Looking after your child's teeth

It’s important to look after your child’s teeth, not only because they are necessary for chewing foods but also because they can impact on your child’s appearance.  Poor dental health can also affect your child’s behaviour, eating habits and his nutritional status. Tooth decay and/or sore gums are often the cause of difficult behaviour, fussy eating, small food intake and refusal to eat.

Fluoride 

Fluoride helps protects the teeth from decay by making the tooth enamel stronger.

Most water supplies in  Australia have added fluoride and this has been shown to decrease the risk of decay by 20-40%. Where the water supply is unflouridated, fluoridated supplements may be recommended by your dentist.

Use low fluoride toothpaste, for brushing the teeth of children aged between 2 and 6 years of age. Only a pea sized amount is needed, so that too much fluoride is not ingested.  Fluoridated toothpaste shouldn’t be used for children less than 2 years old. Up to the age of 8 years, parents need to help with tooth brushing.

Beware of the new range of Sour - Sweet Lollies!

These new varieties of popular lollies taste sour at first and then become sweet.  The sour flavour comes from the food acids added to the lollies. The high acid content of the lollies can wear down tooth surface enamel and cause permanent damage. This is called dental erosion. Children’s first teeth are particularly at risk of dental erosion. Other foods that may cause dental erosion are fruit juices, cordials, fruit drinks and fizzy drinks.

To prevent dental erosion:-

·        Read food labels and look for acidic ingredients. Food acids may be listed by name or number in the ingredient list. Some common names and numbers are citric acid 330, malic acid 296, acetic acid 260, ascorbic acid 300, lactic acid 270, tartaric acid 334, phosphoric acid 338

·        Sweet and/or acid foods are best eaten at mealtimes

·        Choose healthy fresh foods and limit processed sweet/sour foods

·        Make water the drink of choice.

Remember that all lollies, including the sour varieties, put teeth at risk of dental decay because of their high sugar content.