Protecting children’s “Superteeth”: Food to avoid
by: Dr. Bu Buenazedacruz

First off, I really appreciate the comments readers left after reading the first installment of the “Superteeth” series. Thank you for that!

Last week I answered the question “When should we brush our teeth?”. This time, I’d like to go deeper into oral care by tackling preventive measures to help take care of those Superteeth.

Most of dental patients, after having finished all their dental works ask the dentist, “What should I avoid eating to have good oral health?”

There’s a lot of food and drinks out there that give knock out Superteeth, so to speak. The usual culprits are household names: candies, chocolate, sodas, acidic foods and so on. These type of foods stick to the tooth for a long period of time, and, because of their sweet flavor, kids have a higher tendency to forget about brushing them off at all.

Studies have shown that eating or drinking sugar-loaded beverages also increase saliva’s acidity for a short period of time. That’s a dangerous point to consider, particularly for people with acidic saliva, who have more chances to get dental cavities. A good tip would be to check the pH of you or your kids’ saliva, by buying pH paper available in any drugstore.

To fix this problem, you should make sure your saliva is neutral by taking lots of water. Make sure your kid has a water jug always, having juice in their water jug is a no-no!

A whiter smile would also mean avoiding anything with caffeine. That means no softdrinks for kids! This goes for the adults too. Now, many people equate caffeine with yellow teeth, but don’t panic when seeing that yellow color. This doesn’t necessarily mean a bad thing. Healthy permanent teeth is more on the yellowish color, than white. Only our primary (milk) teeth are in natural white in color.

Lastly, eating a well balanced meal is very important. Meat, fish and sodas are highly acidic, while vegetable are alkaline in nature. Having them all on your plate will help maintain those Superteeth. Not only will you protect your children’s teeth but also protect their overall health!

At the end of the day, kids can eat anything they want—as long as it’s balanced, good for their bodies, and most importantly, as long as they brush their teeth afterwards. To help you with list of acidic and alkaline food, check out http://www.energiseforlife.com/list_of_alkaline_foods.php.

This segments purpose is to educated parents in regards to their children’s oral health. Watch out for the next post, that will answer the question to “What do dentist’s do to prevent tooth decay?”

Dr. Bu Buenazedacruz’ Dental Clinic is located at 52 Villa Ortigas Granada St. Q.C. You can contact him through 721 89 37 or 725 00 77. You can also email him at bubs_elite@yahoo.com.