5 Surprising Health Foods That Can Wreak Havoc On Your Children’s Teeth

When you think of “healthy” foods, do you only consider them that because they’re low in fat or simply marketed that way? You’ll be surprised to know that some of the foods you consider good for your body and overall health and wreak total havoc on your mouth, according to a children’s dentist. As a parent, packing your child’s lunch is a big task to take on because you want to promote making nutritional choices in the future. Before you go out to buy snacks and drinks to make the first week of school lunches, you should know these five surprising health foods you’ll want to avoid.

Sports Drinks and Enhanced Water

Sports drinks and water with added “nutritional” benefits are marketed as a healthy way to get hydrated and healthier. However, they can be packed full of sugar and other ingredients that aren’t healthy for your mouth like citric acid. Most sports drinks contain more than the recommended daily amount of sugar for adults. So, instead of packing these beverages, you’re better off sticking with plain water. It can rinse harmful oral bacteria and sugars from your little one’s mouth as they accumulate throughout the day!

Trail Mix With Unhealthy Ingredients

While trail mix isn’t a total miss in terms of maintaining great oral health, it’s important to be careful and double-check what ingredients it contains. Many kinds include unhealthy foods with excessive amounts of sugar and fat. It’s best to avoid mixes with chocolate, dried fruit, and other candy in it. Instead, try packing just plain almonds!

Sticky Dried Fruits

While dried fruits are delicious, they also contain significantly higher amounts of sugar than plain fruit. They’re also stickier, allowing them to attach to your child’s teeth and deposit cavity-causing sugars on their molars. Regular fruit contains more water, and the fibers are less likely to attach themselves to teeth.

Smoothies Packed With Sugar

Certain smoothies can be great for your overall health, especially when you add enamel-fortifying non-fat Greek yogurt to them! However, they can be made from ingredients that are high in sugar. Typically, you’ll find this in pre-packaged smoothies you can buy at the store. If you’re making smoothies at home, try to avoid fruits that are high in sugar like figs, grapes, mangoes, pomegranates, and cherries.

Fatty Granola

Granola is delicious in yogurt, and even as a substitute for cereal, but there’s a downside. This delicious breakfast item is high in sugar and fat, causing it to lead to cavity development and tooth decay. If you can’t live without it, be sure to compare the nutritional values and choose the one with the highest amount of fiber and lowest amount of sugar.

When packing your child’s lunch this year for school, you can help protect their oral health from stealthy cavity-causing sugar bombs by avoiding these five snacks. This way, you can reduce the risk of them needing an emergency visit with their family dentist and missing a day of class!

About the Author

Dr. St. Clair has been practicing dentistry in Rowley since 1996. He routinely takes continuing education courses in a variety of specialized topics including dental sleep medicine and implant dentistry so he can offer all of his patients comprehensive care. He enjoys treating patients of all sizes and giving children the knowledge they need to maintain beautiful and healthy pearly whites for years to come. For questions or to schedule a routine checkup and cleaning before classes start back up, visit his website or call 978-948-2030.