“My daughter occasionally eats candy. Will this damage her teeth?”
My 8 year old daughter likes to have a piece of candy everyday. Will this damage her teeth in the long run?
7 Answers
No! Let your kid be a kid. As long as we are brushing twice a day and flossing at night, and not overloading with candy, then the occasional sweet treats are ok.
This depends on your daughters frequency of snacking and her oral hygiene. It is recommended to space snacking out 3 hours in between. Additionally, if proper oral hygiene is not established, the sugar can cause an acidic environment and accumulate plaque and bacteria which will lead to cavities. Candy is okay to eat occasionally, you just want to be wary of what it can do and maintain regular dental visits to catch issues early if they are to form.
Eating candy as a dessert at the end of a meal is okay. Eating any carbohydrate between meals is risky, even fruits.
I will advise on limiting the amount of sugar and make sure she is brushing and flossing daily.
As long as she brushes regularly and isn't snacking several times a day then she will be OK. However, some kids are still prone to cavities, candy or not.
The critical issue with candy is the format the candy is in: hard, chewy, sticky, tacky, crunchy; the sugar content per serving; how often it is consumed in the day/week. The worst candy to consume is a sticky/chewy/tacky one because it concentrates the sugar where it adheres to the tooth and takes mechanical removal from the tooth surface. The saliva cannot clear it from the mouth, changing the pH in the mouth and supporting bacterial growth over extended time. The perfect recipe for decay! The best, least damaging candy that one can have daily (in moderation) is dark chocolate. On an American diet, that would be 1 ounce (2 mini red wrapper Dove bars or 4 purple foil Hershey's kisses) per day.
EVERYDAY??? Of course it does, unless she brushes her teeth right after eating candy ;)
Candy is a good source of food for the bacteria that causes cavities! Please replace them with something healthier, do it gradually and with a positive reinforcement! I'm a mom too, I know it's so hard to do that but if you don't stop her now she will end up having lots of problems in her permanent teeth! Good luck!
Candy is a good source of food for the bacteria that causes cavities! Please replace them with something healthier, do it gradually and with a positive reinforcement! I'm a mom too, I know it's so hard to do that but if you don't stop her now she will end up having lots of problems in her permanent teeth! Good luck!
