One of the most important parts of your child’s dental hygiene, is ensuring that they have strong enamel. Their enamel is what protects their teeth from decay and disease. It can be damaged by acidic bacteria that your child’s mouth is introduced to. Protecting this enamel is so important to overall dental hygiene and mouth health. Here are a few ways to make sure your child’s enamel is strong!
Avoid drinks and foods with excess sugar
The bacteria in your child’s mouth thrives on sugar. This sugar causes plaque and ultimately, cavities. This is why you should try to limit the amount of sugar your child ingests. Try to avoid drinks with excess sugar, such as soda, fruit juice, and sports drinks, all of which have incredibly high amounts of sugar.
Incorporate more calcium into their diet
Ingesting calcium is one of the best thing your children can do for their teeth. Calcium neutralizes the acids that damage enamel, and does a great job of protecting their teeth. A great way to make sure your child is getting enough calcium, is to have them consume one dairy product at every meal. If your child doesn’t like or doesn’t eat dairy, there are other great ways to get calcium into their diet. Foods such as almond milk, kale, soy yogurt, fish, and edamame are great sources of calcium.
Make sure they brush and floss regularly
Keeping their teeth cleaned is one of the best ways to make sure that any lingering acids are removed so they can’t damage the enamel on their teeth. Your child should be brushing their teeth twice a day, for two minutes each time. If your child is too young or unable to floss their own teeth, you should do it for them. Their teeth should be flossed once a day, every single day. A regular brushing and flossing routine is incredibly important to protect their enamel.
Use fluoridated toothpaste
Once your child is old enough, using a fluoride toothpaste protects the teeth through a process called remineralization. Just make sure that the fluoridated toothpaste you use has the ADA seal of approval, which just proves that it’s been rigorously tested and has an appropriate amount of fluoride for your child.
