The best tooth-friendly snacks for children to prevent cavities
Before we dive into what the best tooth-friendly snacks for your child’s teeth are, it’s important to understand how cavities form.
I could just “give you the fish”, but I’m going to teach you “how to fish”.
I want you to feel confident that whatever season or situation you are in, you’re able to offer tooth-friendly snacks to your little one without second-guessing yourself.
What causes cavities?
There are over 700 species of bacteria that call our mouths home.
Don’t freak out and grab a bottle of antiseptic mouth rinse!
Repeat after me: Bacteria are our friends. Not our enemies… as long as they are balanced.
When the oral microbiome is balanced, meaning there are both friendly and unfriendly bacteria co-existing, the friendly bacteria will be well nourished and thriving and will out-populate the unfriendly bacteria… essentially crowding them out.
The friendly bacteria are what keep the unfriendly bacteria population in check and allow for a healthy oral environment- less plaque, better breath, and healthier gums and teeth.
So, the best way to prevent cavities is actually to focus on feeding the friendly bacteria rather than sterilizing the mouth. Because when you sterilize the mouth, you are attacking the good with the bad- essentially creating an imbalanced oral microbiome.
An imbalanced oral microbiome, where unfriendly bacteria outnumber the friendly, is where the trouble starts because it can lead to a host of issues as a result of an acidic pH.
That acidic environment allows for overgrowth in plaque and tartar, gum inflammation, cavities, bad breath, and an overall weakened immune system.
So just to reiterate, an imbalance in bacteria is what causes cavities, not the mere existence of bacteria.
One way to create an imbalance is to over-feed the unfriendly bacteria by eating or drinking lots of sugary or starchy foods.
When it comes to feeding unfriendly bacteria there are two things to take into account:
- Carbohydrate content of snacks: the fermentation of dietary carbohydrates creates sugars that cause a drop in the oral pH- creating an acidic environment. That means starchy snacks are just as much to blame as sugary treats because they are quickly broken down into sugars in the mouth.
- Frequency/duration of snacking: how often and how long snacks are eaten matters just as much as WHAT is being offered. Every time a sugary or starchy food is eaten, there will be a subsequent 20 minutes of acidity in the mouth. Each acid attack is a direct assault on the enamel of your child’s teeth. So, avoid grazing all day long and have your little one eat their snack in one sitting.
Snacks to avoid:
Really any simple carbohydrates that quickly break down into sugar and/or stick to the chewing surface of teeth.
That means it’s a lot more than just candy that we need to be looking out for when it comes to snacks. In fact, I see more cavities caused by snacks that are considered “healthy” than from the big-name culprit of candy.
Here is an idea of what to look out for.
- Sugary sweets: candy, cake, cookies
- Sticky treats: fruit snacks, dried fruit, granola bars
- Starchy snacks: crackers, chips, pretzels
- Stripped of nutrients: over-processed, packaged foods
- Sugary drinks: juice, sports drinks, soda
A simple rule of thumb when you’re in a hurry is to offer foods that don’t have a label.
What to look for in tooth-friendly snacks for kids:
Okay, that was a long and seemingly all-encompassing list of snacks.
So, what should you offer? What are some tooth-friendly snacks for kids?
How do you feed the friendly bacteria and starve the cavity-causing bacteria?
Look for snacks that are:
- Non-sugary
- Non-sticky
- Non-acidic
- Do not last long in your mouth (aka don’t stick in the grooves of the teeth or require a lot of sucking- like a lollipop)
- Contains compounds like phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, and calcium that help to remineralize the teeth
- Provides fat-soluble vitamins like A, D, and K that aid in calcium absorption and delivery
- Stimulate secretion of saliva (this happens when you eat foods that require more chewing- think crunchy fruits and veggies)
The best tooth-friendly snacks for kids:
With all of that in mind, here are some super simple and practical tooth-friendly snacks for kids.
These will not only prevent decay by nourishing the friendly bacteria but will also help to strengthen your little one’s teeth by providing nutrients that are necessary for enamel remineralization.
- Crunchy veggies + hummus:
- Crunchy veggies and fruits help to clean the teeth as they are being chewed by scrubbing away food particles and plaque.
- ie. carrots, bell pepper, celery, snap peas, broccoli, cucumber
- Cheese + meat
- Cheese helps to stimulate salivary flow
- Yogurt + berries
- Opt for yogurt without added sugars
- Apples + nut butter
- Opt for nut butter that is just the ground nut without added sugars.
- Hard-boiled egg + avocado
- Celery + nut butter
- Handful of nuts
What to do when you do offer a sugary or starchy sweet?
It’s not realistic to think that your child will never have a treat. So what are some simple things you can do to decrease the effects of that food?
- You can offer the treat with a meal as opposed to treating it like a full snack. Offering treats with meals ensures that there is a good amount of salivary flow, helping to reduce the duration of time the treat is in the mouth.
- Be sure your little one is offered water with the treat to help flush it out of the mouth.
- Offer something crunchy like a fruit or veggie afterward to help clean the teeth or with cheese to buffer the acidity and stimulate salivary flow.
- DO NOT brush your child’s teeth for at least 20 minutes to avoid brushing sugars and acid all over the teeth.
- Use a remineralizing hydroxyapatite toothpaste to strengthen their enamel.
Bon appetite!
Snack time can be super simple and toddler-approved while still being tooth-friendly.
Remember that just because a product says it’s “healthy” doesn’t mean it isn’t packed with sugars that can lead to an imbalanced microbiome and decay.
At the same time, be kind to yourself. It’s ok to enjoy treats together… but all things in moderation. And if you do, be sure to offer them with water or with a meal to ensure that they aren’t sitting in the mouth for long and have a bit of an acidity buffer.
Do what you can to offer tooth-friendly foods more and more often.
Focus on nourishing your child’s microbiome. They will thank you for it.
You’ve got this!
