'Like a kid in a candy store!'

Parents often wonder how much sugary food is okay for a child's teeth. Can children have candies as long as they brush their teeth twice a day? Here is what research has to say about this topic.

Does giving your child a lot of sugar as a treat really cause so much harm?

Everyone knows the answer to this question is a resounding yes! However, people do not understand how exactly sugar acts on the teeth.

It’s very common for a child to prefer sweet and sugary foods to healthy snack options. This is because sugary snacks taste good, and children usually don’t understand the importance of healthy food options. This is also true of parents, who generally do not understand why they need to cut out the sugar in their child's diet. A latest study shows that in Europe, 20% –90% of 6-year-old children have dental caries. At age 12, an average of 0.5–3.5 teeth are affected by dental caries, and nearly 100% of adults have experience of the disease.

How does sugar affect the teeth?

The mouth contains a variety of bacteria that are present naturally. These bacteria use the sugars in the mouth as a food source. When the bacteria breaks down the sugar, the resulting product is acid. This acid is sticky in nature and it coats the outer tooth surface, known as enamel, slowly breaking it down. Once the acid breaks through the enamel, the resulting pit on the tooth surface becomes a good breeding place for the bacterial colony. As candies are consumed, with more frequency, this cycle of 'acid-breakdown-colonization' continues and the resulting pit in the tooth surface gets larger and larger, resulting in tooth pain and subsequent infection.

This is the reason why, frequent consumption of sweet treats should be avoided. However, occasionally eating something sweet is okay, provided parents follow a strict oral hygiene routine to help prevent serious damage to the teeth.

• Brush the teeth and floss regularly This is the bare minimum solution. The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends brushing your child's teeth twice a day, in the morning and evening, with a soft-bristled brush. For optimum dental health, the ADA suggests brushing your teeth for a minimum of 2 minutes each time, and to make sure you brush every tooth. In addition to brushing, it’s important to also clean between your teeth once a day. There are several dental aids to choose from like, dental floss, floss picks or a water floss. Flossing between the teeth helps remove plaque and food particles that often get stuck under the gum line and between teeth.
  

• Reduce frequent snacking Frequent snacking of sweet sticky foods leaves a continuous acidic pH in the mouth which results in quicker tooth breakdown. If possible, cut out sweet foods from your family's diet altogether. If this is too drastic for you, then sweets should be served during meal times only - this way, the saliva in the mouth will have time to neutralize the pH in the mouth between each meal. It is however, always good to choose seasonal fruits that are rich in vitamins and fiber over processed confectioneries.

• Consume more water Drinking water that is fluoridated, in frequent intervals, helps to wash away the bacteria that harm teeth. It also keeps the mouth moist and hydrated. Dry mouth helps bacteria to grow and can result in unpleasant and smelly odor. Water also helps to improve salivary flow in the mouth, which is important as saliva contains important minerals that can actually help repair damaged teeth.
  

• Reduce consumption of sweet carbonated drinks There is long term research which shows that drinking soft drinks is linked to many potential dental problems. Sweetened carbonated drinks or sodas have inherent acids and sugars, which cause dental caries and potential enamel wear. In case children are given soda on occasion, a good tip is to encourage the use of a straw so the teeth have minimum direct exposure to the drink.

Many parents use candies, ice creams, sodas as a reward for a child's good behavior, or achievement. While it is a good thing to reward a child for positive conduct, I find that replacing unhealthy treats with useful things such as stationary, game time, books or even praise can be far more rewarding and healthy in the long run. There are many parents who complain to me that, 'they try to hide the sweets, but the child always finds them'! To them my reply always is - 'if you don't buy them, your child will not find them.' Small lifestyle changes can go a long way in avoiding painful and expensive dental treatment. Helping children develop lifelong positive habits, can be fruitful in the long run.

Citation

1.Diet and Oral Health: Fact sheet on oral health and sugars (2018)

2.Presentation – Inequalities in Health: challenges and opportunities in Europe, 21st Congress of the European Association of Dental Public Health

3. https://www.ada.org/sitecore/content/home-mouthhealthy/az-topics/b/brushing-your-teeth

4.Andrew Gallagher, DMD; Joseph Sowinski, DDS; James Bowman, et al. The Effect of Brushing Time and Dentifrice on Dental Plaque Removal in vivo

5.Cheng R, Yang H, Shao MY, Hu T, Zhou XD. Dental erosion and severe tooth decay related to soft drinks: a case report and literature review. J Zhejiang Univ Sci B. 2009;10(5):395-399. doi:10.1631/jzus.B0820245