Are you concerned about your kids’ dental health, in particular, are you worried that they will struggle with more dental cavities in the future? The plaque bacteria in the mouth feed on sugars, meaning that high levels of sugar can contribute to dental decay. Fortunately, this means that you can help to protect your kids’ teeth by simply combining healthy choices with regular preventive dental care.

Avoid Sugary Treats, Which Can Contribute to Cavities

Cooking healthy meals, at-home, is an important way to help protect your kids’ oral health. However, if you send them to school with lunch pails filled with sugar, no amount of green vegetables at dinner will help to undo the threat their teeth will face due to the sugar consumption. If you want to avoid the need for restorative dental fillings, it is best to limit your family’s sugar intake.

With that in mind, why not start looking for healthier alternatives to their favorite lunch fare?

• Instead of sending your kids to school with packaged muffins for breakfast or snacks, make your own, as a family at-home, using healthier ingredients and far less sugar. Whole wheat is more filling than plain white flour, and applesauce is a healthy substitute for the fat in many baked goods. Mashed vegetables like zucchini and beet can be added to many muffins, as well, allowing you to pack great nutrients into delicious snacks.
• Fresh fruit is actually a great way to satisfy a sweet tooth without compromising dental health. If your kids love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, why not opt for fresh fruit in place of the jam or jelly?
• Fresh fruit is often high in water content, which makes it smile-friendly, and also far lower in sugar than most processed jams or other prepacked fruit goods, like fruit snacks, fruit leathers, etc.
• Keep in mind you can also sneak healthy veggies into many meals, by swapping cauliflower for the white potatoes in your kids’ favorite mashed potatoes, or baking vitamin-rich, homemade sweet potato fries instead of hitting the drive thru!