Yesterday, my daughter had her first tooth pulled — at age 8! I took her to the dentist last week for a bi-annual cleaning and came home with an appointment for an extraction. Just six months before she had a perfect report from the dentist, no cavities. In that short amount of time she developed 3 cavities, with one of them going down to the root. I felt like the worst mother in the world because I felt I somehow let this happen. My daughter brushes her teeth twice a day, but apparently this wasn’t enough. The dentist said sugar is most likely to blame.
Looking back, I really don’t serve her too many sweets. Occasionally I will make cupcakes or other desserts, but we’re not big on candy. The the dentist mentioned juice. She drinks it everyday at lunch and also at home. I never stopped to think how much sugar there is in juice, and sucking on multiple juice boxes daily wears down tooth enamel. This information was confirmed when I searched Google for “How to protect children from sweets” and found this article on WikiTalks: http://wikitalks.com/2013/01/how-to-protect-children-from-the-sweet/. The article actually has some good suggestions for swapping sugar laden foods for healthier ones. Dried fruit, for example, is a lot better for your teeth than candy, but tastes just as good as gummy bears.
I’ve decided that juice has to be removed from our shopping list and she’s just going to have to get used to drinking water. The dentist even said that milk is another beverage that causes cavities. Who knew? Trips to the dentist get expensive when you don’t take care of your teeth and I will do anything to prevent my daughter from going down that path. Good hygiene habits need to start young, and even though I thought we were doing a good job, there’s more than just brushing twice a day for keeping your mouth healthy.
Thankfully, the tooth that was removed was a baby tooth in the back of her mouth. Her adult tooth with eventually grow in, and for the few years that it will remain empty, you can’t see it missing when she smiles. She also took the extraction like a champ, and has minimal amounts of pain. I think this experience was more painful for me than her!
How much juice does your child drink?
