LIVE WELL
Promoting Happy and Healthy Smiles for National Children’s Dental Health Month
Instilling good dental habits early in life will provide a healthy mouth that will keep your child smiling indefinitely. Here are 11 easy tips that can help your child prevent cavities. 1. Regular brushing and flossing: Brush at least twice a day, floss at least once a day. 2. Don’t share your food and drink: Cavities can actually be contagious! Because the bacteria that causes them can be passed from one user to the next, avoid sharing food and drinks with children. 3. Visit the dentist: It is recommended to bring your child to a dentist after their first tooth arrives. Routine evaluations and cleanings can be performed as early as age 3 in our office. 4. Avoid frequent snacking: Constant snacking, particularly on sweets, provides the perfect environment for cavity-inducing bacteria to do their work. Limit snacking to healthy foods, and if your
children can brush, or use water as a mouthwash after 9. Minimize juice and sports snacking. drinks: It’s best to drink these in moderation. These are 5. Eat crisp, water-dense acidic and sweet, two things fruit: Fruits high in water that are not so good for our help keep your child’s mouth teeth. hydrated, particularly useful during a lunchbox meal. 10. Avoid sticky foods: Items like fruit leathers, cookies and 6. Avoid additional sugar: candies aren’t good choices This is good for the body as for healthy teeth any day of well, and an important rule the week. when it comes to teeth. Soda, chocolate milk and other 11. Consider cheeses and nut sweetened foods and bever- butters: Nuts and cheese have ingredients that help ages should be a rarity. remineralize our teeth. These 7. Consider dental sealants: are good alternatives for the Your dentist can place a pro- lunchbox if your child is not tective sealant on your child’s allergic to these. teeth to prevent decay. This process is simple and can Please call us to schedule your family! save future headaches. 8. Drink a lot of water: Wa- Elite Dentistry ter should be the beverage of 407-658-0103 choice. Bottled water is okay, 13000 Avalon Lake Drive but fluoridated tap water is Suite 201 best. Use a filter if you are Orando, FL 32828 concerned about the quality www.elitedentistry.com of your local tap water.
