My daughter has been having some issues with getting cavities and everytime I take her to the dentist, he tells me it's because of sugar getting in between her teeth (she also has crowding issues with her baby teeth so there is no space in between her teeth). He mainly says we need to cut out the sweets (which I've majorly cut down on), but I'm wondering if I shouldn't also be watching her sugar intake from other things in her diet, like the yogurt smoothies and mandarian oranges she loves?
*EDIT*- Thanks for all the great responses so far! One note, after her first dentist appt. in which she had a cavity, we completely cut juice out- she only drinks milk and water. Also, every time we see the dentist, I ask questions about what else we can be doing or should be doing regarding brushing, etc. and he always says he can tell we do a great job with brushing because her gums look great and her teeth are strong (he did give us a prescription floride to put on every night and she uses Act mouthwash every morning).
Try cutting down on her juice, the sugars in fruit juices are terrible on little teeth. Or water it down so it isnt so strong
Juice is the number one worst most sugar. Keep it to a little watered down juice per day. Yes, the mandarins are pretty sugary. Candy of course. Eating fruit should pretty much be all of her sugar except for rare treats. Yogurt smoothies should be ok if they're not sugary vanilla or yo baby yogurt (tons of sugar). Plain yogurt with some real frozen fruit is very nutritious and not too much sugar for teeth.
Cutting down on surgar is just a healthy thing in general. I've also cut down on sugar with my kids because I just want them to live a long, healthy life and, also, because my son seems to be sugar sensitive (causes him to be a wild man).
In addition to cutting down on sugar, I would suggest making it a practice to brush your daughter's teeth immediately after she eats, floss before bed and also buy a battery powered tooth brush for her to use. Those battery powered tooth brushes can clean teeth very well if used correctly and for long enough period of time (my kids were notorious for just brushing the very front of their teeth for maybe 3 seconds, before declaring they were done).
Some people's teeth are more susceptible to getting cavities than other's. I'd just focus on amping up the oral hygene habit and making it consistent. But do limit the sugar that she eats as well so that she can stay healthy and happy and hopefully develop a taste for fresh clean food.
Hope this helps.
This is sort of a "duh" question, so if you're already doing it just ignore it: do you floss between your daughter's teeth at night? There are little kid Placker things on the market that make it less of a nightmare:^) My six year old does not have cavities, but I largely credit my MIL the retired dental hygienist for that. She's been on us since before our kid was born about good oral care.
So aside from the brushing, flossing, going to the dentist and all that good stuff...foods to avoid also include chewy fruit snacks (a HUGE culprit), raisins and juice. We give diluted juice or water between meals. I don't think straight fruit is as much of a problem as juice, but you might want to check with your dentist on that one.
Maybe instead of cutting everything with sugar out of her diet you could brush her teeth after every meal instead. Does she brush her own teeth or do you brush them for her? My children's pediatric dentist told me I should brush my children's teeth because young children don't do a good job brushing their teeth. He showed me that I should sit on the floor, Indian style, and have the child's head in my lap and brush the child's teeth w/o toothpaste, just water. Then let the child brush standing in front of the mirror, with toothpaste. Just an idea. Hope it helps :)
I have heard of a dentist mentioning things like raisins because it sticks to your teeth which can lead to cavities.
Cannot stress enough about flossing. If her cavities are between teeth, then its the flossing that will help that. Just like one mom said to get the plackers....they are WAY bettter than regular floss. And besides juice, I would cut out ALL sticky type stuff, like fruit roll-ups, fruit snacks, jelly-beans, carmels, raisins ect. They are the worst for teeth!
Sweets are the "obvious" sugars, but there is a TON of sugar in juice, yogurt, and packaged foods. I would suggest that you let your daughter brush her own teeth, but that you go back after and do them again! Does she floss? If not, she should definitely start.
We have cut way back on juice with my son- milk twice a day, juice once a day but otherwise it's water. He hasn't missed the juice, so we're sticking too it. My husband looked at the juice bottle one day and immediately said something about the sugar content. Yikes!
