Summer vacation is here, which means if you have kids, they are home a lot more. This may also mean that they are eating more meals and snacks at home, giving you the opportunity to manage their nutrition a bit more. Take advantage of this opportunity, and not only do you stand to help your little ones with better overall health and healthier teeth, but you may even give them a leg up on developing years and years of tooth stains that take away the innocent whiteness and brightness of their natural smiles.
Summer Foods to Avoid: Popsicles
The majority of popsicles are made with artificial colors which are big time tooth stainers. The darker the popsicle, the more stains they’ll leave on your child’s teeth. You’ve probably already seen your childs’s teeth, mouth, and tongue (along with clothes and hands) stained by a red, blue, purple, or orange popsicle. Surely there must be a better way to offer them a cool treat without the artificial, dark, staining ingredients. How about homemade popsicles? By blending plain or low-sugar yogurt with strawberries (or your favorite fruits) you can make a whole foods frozen treat which is much better for your child’s teeth. The calcium in yogurt coats teeth to help avoid any stains from the fruit.
Frozen Bananas
You can roll a fresh banana in nuts, or even melted dark chocolate, for a fairly healthy, cold, refreshing treat. Dark chocolate may seem counterintuitive in terms of avoiding teeth stains. It’s not that chocolate will stop teeth from staining, but properties in the darker varieties of the cocoa bean are good for your gum health. Any dark food (including chocolate) can be combatted (in terms of staining) by simply encouraging your child to rinse their mouths with water after consuming. A more natural based food like chocolate will be much less dulling to white teeth than artificial colors like those found in popsicles or many of the candies on the market these days.
Visit your Wilmette Cosmetic Dentist
To schedule an appointment, call our 60091 dentist office at 847-259-8030. We are happy to serve patients in Northbrook, Deerfield, Highland Park, Wilmette, Winnetka, Glencoe, Vernon Hills, Lincolnshire, Libertyville, Skokie, Evanston, Palatine, Schaumburg, Elk Grove Village, Rolling Meadows, Northwest Chicago Suburbs, and Northern Chicago Suburbs.
