3 Things You Pack in Your Child’s Lunch That Hurt Your Child’s Oral Health

Kid's Oral HealthAs parents, we all know how important it is to provide our children with a healthy lunch each day. We send them off to school with a lunch consisting of foods that we hope they will enjoy and yet are still good for them. The goal is to keep their developing bodies as healthy as possible.

In our rush to pack a lunch that we might consider healthy for our kids’ bodies, we sometimes overlook the fact that these foods might be causing oral health issues. Some foods that we consider healthy in other respects really are not good for our children’s oral health.

Here are 3 things that you may be packing in your child’s lunch that may be hurting them in the oral health department:

Juice

Sending your child’s favorite juice box as a drink for lunch may seem harmless enough, but the truth is juice can be just as dangerous as soda when it comes to your children’s teeth. Juice actually contains quite a bit of acid. This acid can eat away at the enamel or protective layer on the surface of teeth.

It is better to have kids drink water with their lunches to avoid any long-term damage to their teeth.

Granola Bars

We tend to think of granola as a healthy snack. The problem is most granola bars are made with an added ingredient such as fruit or candy. When eaten, these ingredients tend to stick to teeth, hiding in crevices and cracks in the teeth. This can easily lead to tooth decay. It is better to make your own granola without added ingredients.

Fruit Snacks

Some parents consider fruit snacks an alternative to actual fruit. Unfortunately, fruit snacks are loaded with sugar and many are not made with any real fruit whatsoever. Like granola made with dried fruit and candy, fruit snacks will stick to your children’s teeth and often remains there until the next time they brush.

Instead of fruit snacks, it is better to serve fresh fruit or vegetables. Carrot sticks, apple slices, grapes and celery are much healthier choices for your child’s lunch and are safer for their teeth.

Besides these 3 foods that you should try to avoid putting in your child’s lunch, it is also important to avoid sugary snacks. Sugar combined with naturally occurring bacteria in the mouth turns to acid that attacks the enamel on the teeth and can cause major damage.

If you have additional questions about what foods to send with your child to school, please give Smile Concepts a call at 480-951-2800.

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