Posted by Meghan Weaver on Thu, Aug 26, 2010 @ 09:52 AM
Nutrition and your oral health are highly intertwined. Good nutrition promotes good oral health by enabling your mouth and its tissues to develop and stay healthy. However, some foods and habits are known to spur on plaque development, leading to a heightened risk of tooth decay and dental disease.
With all of this in mind, we’ve put together several quick facts and nutrition tips to keep your teeth and gums disease and decay free.
Quick Facts and Tips:
- Sugars and cooked starches (fermentable carbohydrates) can make a huge impact on your risk of tooth decay, so avoid consumption of these items in excess
- About 20-40 minutes after you eat, your mouth releases acids. Each of these “acid attacks” increases your risk of tooth decay so it's important to limit the number of between-meal snacks you have (as you’ll limit the number of acid attacks as well).
- Foods such as bread and crackers stay on teeth longer that jelly beans or caramels despite perceived stickiness of the latter two. Look to consume foods that clear the mouth quickly, as they pose less of a threat of tooth decay.
- Baby bottle tooth decay occurs when infants’ or young children’s teeth get severely damaged from prolonged exposure to liquids containing sugars. For this reason, you should avoid letting your child fall asleep with a bottle of formula or juice.
- Make sure you get your Vitamin C. It helps protect your gums from infection and can be found in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.
- Last but not least, if you do consume sugary or carbohydrate-rich foods, make sure it’s as part of a balanced meal. This helps to increase saliva production and neutralize acid production in the mouth.
Need more tips on nutrition for oral health? Ask your dentist at your next dental checkup.
And, for those who need to find a dentist, Universal Dental Plan can help. Universal Dental Plan is an affordable dental insurance plan alternative in Massachusetts. We connect you with local Boston dentists and providers throughout the state who will be able to answer your questions and point you on a path towards excellent oral health.
Posted by Meghan Weaver on Thu, Aug 19, 2010 @ 12:09 PM
Thanks to www.dentistry.com we have a few tips to share with you on how to keep your child’s teeth in mint condition—from before birth through their early school age years.
- Consume calcium rich foods while pregnant to ensure your child’s future teeth grow healthy and strong.
- Once your child is born, don’t wait until they start teething to begin oral health care. Clean your infant’s gums with a clean gauze pad after feeding to protect them from harmful plaque and bacteria
- Take your child for his or her first dental visit by their first birthday. That way, your dentist can check early on for tooth decay, fluoride needs, and potentially dangerous habits like thumb sucking.
- Do not use toothpaste for children under 2 years of age. Clean your child’s teeth using only water when they first appear.
- Teach your children the proper brushing techniques. They should be able to brush on their own by age 6 or 7.
- Begin flossing your child’s teeth as soon as they develop two teeth that are adjacent to one another. This will help prevent tooth decay in hard to reach areas.
- Make trips to the dentist an enjoyable experience.
- Check to make sure that the water supply that serves your home is fluoridated. If not, talk with your dentist about supplemental options.
- Make sure your child is eating right for proper oral health. Foods rich in Calcium, Vitamin D and Vitamin C help strengthen tooth enamel and fight harmful mouth bacteria. If your child has a sweet tooth, it’s best that they consume sweets only during meals. At mealtime, saliva production is increased which helps neutralize and wash away cavity-causing acids in sugary and starchy foods.
- Take an active role in your child’s oral health! Ask the dentist questions and be sure to keep him or her informed of your child’s health status (after all, oral health and bodily health are highly interconnected).
Need to find a solution that makes your child’s dental care affordable?
Discount dental plans such as Universal Dental Plan allow you to utilize Boston dentists (and other Massachusetts dentists and specialists) at an affordable price. Give us a call today at 1 (800) 894 8984!
Posted by Meghan Weaver on Wed, Apr 21, 2010 @ 09:19 AM
Experts say that healthy smiles lead to healthy bodies. This is not just true for adults but for children too. A proactive and comprehensive oral health regimen can make a world of difference in your child's health, especially when you start it early.
Here are 5 things parents should know about their child's oral health.
1. Baby teeth are just as important as permanent teeth!
That's because strong, healthy baby teeth enable proper speech and help your child get the nutrition he or she needs to grow and flourish. Neglecting your child's baby teeth can lead to early periodontal disease and harm the development of permanent teeth.
2. Dental sealants are the number one way to reduce childhood cavities
Dental sealants are like protective armor for your child's most vulnerable teeth-their molars. Molars have deep crevices which are among the most common places for dental cavities to form. Dental sealants contain a protective solution that fills these deep gaps and keeps cavities away.
3. Pacifiers and thumb-sucking cause damage to permanent teeth
Babies love their pacifiers and many children develop thumb sucking habits, it's only natural right?
However, it can start doing damage to a child's teeth once permanent teeth start to arrive. So, if your child is still sucking his or her thumb or won't part with a favorite pacifier after already having lost a few baby teeth, you should definitely take major steps to wean them off of it.
4. Fluoride flushes out the cavities and strengthens enamel
When your child goes to the dentist, make sure he or she gets a fluoride treatments. It's an essential way to ward off bacteria, and strengthen tooth enamel against decay.
5. The healthy brushing habits your teach your child last a lifetime
Children don't develop the dexterity necessary for proper tooth brushing until they reach age seven. That's why parents of young children should still brush their teeth (even if the child has begun brushing his or her teeth on their own).
Also parents that place a huge emphasis on the importance of brushing teeth at least twice per-day (and brushing them the right way) will help their children develop a very good habit that lasts a lifetime.
Parents should care just as much about their child's teeth as they would their general health because good general health begins in the mouth. By understanding these five main dental health needs for your child, you can ensure they'll keep a healthy smile as they grow up healthy and strong.
