Is Keeping Your Kids Healthy This Winter Impacting Their Dental Health?

During the winter months, you do your very best to keep your children fit and healthy, but are the steps you are taking impacting their health in other ways? Approximately 50% of Australian kids experience tooth decay before they turn six years old. While you are trying to keep the bugs at bay, you could be inadvertently contributing to the deterioration of their teeth. Here are two of your healthy habits you need to take a closer look at.

Gummy Vitamins

Gummy vitamins are a tasty way to keep your child's immune system in top working condition, but gummies have a higher amount of sugar in them than regular vitamins do. Instead of reaching for the gummies, you could either stick to regular vitamins that are swallowed whole, or you could look to make diet changes so your kids get the vitamins they need from their food. Since the family is craving hearty foods thanks to the cold weather, sliding some green, leafy vegetables into your casseroles will give them all a vitamin boost without the sugar hit.

If you wish to continue using up the gummies you have already purchased, make sure your child does their morning teeth brush after they have had the vitamins rather than before. By doing so, at least you can get rid of some of the sugar they have just consumed. The less sugar in their mouth, the fewer food particles bacteria has available to turn into decay.

Winter Sports

Encouraging your children into indoor sports such as soccer and basketball is a great way to keep them fit during the cold months, but these sports could be putting your child's teeth at risk if you are not insisting on them wearing a mouthguard. Not all sports foundations have a compulsory rule regarding the wearing of a mouthguard while playing, but just because your child does not have to wear one, it does not mean they shouldn't.

Your child's dentist is the best place to get a custom-fitted mouthguard made for their winter sports endeavours. While soccer and basketball are not considered to be 'contact sports', the impact of a ball against your child's mouth could result in chipped or dislodged teeth. It is far more cost effective to buy a mouthguard rather than having to pay for emergency dentist visits.

Do not let your best intentions of keeping your kids healthy this winter impact on their dental health. Daily brushing and flossing combined with regular dental visits will make sure that when summer rolls around again, dental decay is not an issue you will be dealing with.


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