Children need to develop a healthy and balanced diet not only for their overall health but for their oral health as well. The teeth are a sensitive part of a child’s body and need special care and attention. If you don’t take care of your teeth at a young age, then you might have to face a lot of dental issues as an adult.
Pediatric dentists advise parents to include certain food items and avoid a few foods and beverages in their children’s diets in order to maintain their dental hygiene. Certain food items are known to provide better nutrition to a child’s teeth, making them stronger and white while some food items weaken the teeth and are responsible for developing cavities in children’s mouths.
For instance, sweet items like candies and chocolates are responsible for the cavities in a child’s mouth. If children eat sugary foods, foods rich in carbohydrates and scratch, then they can face cavities in their teeth at an early age. Most of the kids crave sugary food like candies and chocolates at an early age which leads to cavities. Parents must make sure that children avoid eating such food items and are more inclined towards a healthy and beneficial diet for their oral health.
As a parent, the responsibility falls on your shoulders to make healthy food attractive to your child. There are various recipes available on the internet that you can experiment with to make a healthy and tasty meal for your child. Kids dentists recommend certain foods that you can include in the diet. Let’s look at some of the nutrients that you get from certain foods which should be included in your child’s diet.
Raw Fruits and Vegetables:
Fruits and vegetables consumed in raw form are the best sources of nutrition for your child’s overall health as well as oral health. You should cut and give them fresh fruits and vegetables in raw form every day in order to make them consume the best nutrients for their teeth. The crunchy fruits and vegetables like carrots and apples help in making teeth stronger and the chewing process helps in eliminating the bacteria from your teeth that is the major reason behind all oral problems.
Fruits and vegetables with high water content like melons, cucumbers, apples and pears help in making your child’s teeth work better.
Leafy Green Vegetables:
As children, we have all been advised to add green leafy vegetables to our diets for our overall health. Green leafy vegetables like spinach and kale are magical foods. They can do wonders for your body, especially for your kid’s oral health. Pediatric dentists advise children to consume green leafy vegetables almost every day to add the required calcium and other nutrients to their diets. Calcium helps in building a strong tooth enamel in children and thus it must be added to children’s diets.
Cheese:
Contrary to what most people believe, cheese can add the required nutrients to your child’s diet. If consumed in the right and balanced amount, cheese tends to increase the pH level in our mouth which in turn results in a decreased chance of developing a cavity in children. Add cheese judiciously to your kid’s diet and it won’t be a problem to make them eat cheese as most children love cheese.
Protein-rich foods:
It is not true that only meat is rich in protein. If you are a vegetarian, then you can include a variety of food items that are rich in proteins in your child’s diet like peanut butter, almonds and a variety of nuts. These food items rich in protein and other nutrients can provide a balanced diet that would help in strengthening the tooth enamel of your child.
Sugar-free gum:
Chewing gums are a great source to remove any bacteria and food items left in your mouth. But make sure that you always give your kid sugar-free chewing gums as sugar can have a negative impact on their oral health. Chewing gums when consumed in the right manner can help in the production of saliva which helps in dealing with a lot of oral problems in children.
Kid’s dentists advise adding these nutrients and food items to your child’s diet for their oral health and hygiene. You can contact Alba Dental for all your queries related to your child’s oral health and dental checkups. We are a pediatric dental clinic based in Noida that looks after the oral health of children.
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