Instilling proper dental care habits in your child is imperative, as it provides them with the foundation necessary for a lifetime of healthy teeth and gums. Diet is crucial in maintaining oral health at any age, and it's important that you take certain steps to ensure that your child's diet has a positive impact on the health of their teeth and gums. Family dentist Chad Winthrop and his team at Discovery Dental in Anchorage, AK, are committed to ensuring that both kids and teens have healthy, beautiful smiles.

Here, these dental care experts offer some tips to help you keep your child's teeth healthy:

• Avoid White Sugar: Minimize the amount of sugar your child ingests, as it causes serious harm to their teeth and the rest of their body. Anchorage's best family dentist and the American Dental Association note that sugar provides the “food” mouth bacteria needs to thrive and cause tooth decay. Bacteria produces acids that wear on tooth enamel and eventually form cavities.

• Use Breast Milk Or Formula In Baby Bottles: Fill your baby’s bottle with breast milk or formula only. Refrain from giving your child sugar water, juice, or soft drinks, as sucking on a bottle filled with such liquids is a recipe for baby bottle tooth decay. This tooth decay is caused by continuous exposure to bottles that contain sugary drinks.
• Serve Healthy Snacks: Serve healthy snacks, such as raw fruit, vegetables, and cheeses. Skip dried fruit, since it’s high in sugar and sticks to teeth. Other sticky foods should also be avoided: They tend to remain on teeth and work with bacteria to cause tooth decay.

  

• Limit Snacking: Limit snacking as much as possible and stick to the aforementioned healthy options when you do provide snacks. Time between meals is necessary so saliva can wash away food particles. Dr. Chad and his dental care team recommend two snacks per day, max.

The connection between a healthy diet and healthy teeth is one to stress to your child often, as are other proper dental care habits such as brushing and flossing. Taking your child to the family dentist every six months starting at age one is also strongly recommended to ensure lifelong appointment diligence. It helps minimize any fears associated with the dentist as well.

At Discovery Dental, Dr. Chad and the support staff are dedicated to offering a wide range of dental care services to both children and teens in a welcoming environment. In addition to keeping up on the latest advancements in dental care to ensure that your child gets the best treatment possible, they are also experienced in working with children to make the appointments easy and fun.

For more information or to schedule an appointment, contact Discovery Dental today by calling (907) 662-5437 or by visiting their website.