Oral Diseases
Oral cancer is one of the least understood conditions amongst the general public.
Good Oral Health
We often take it for granted, but having a healthy mouth is so important.
Babies & Toddlers
Your child’s first or primary teeth are just as important as permanent teeth.
Kids Dental
Kids are great learners and the information that they absorb now will stay with them into adulthood.
Teacher Resources
Downloadable classroom worksheets about good dental practices.
Drinking soft drinks, sports drinks and even fruit juice coats your mouth with sugar for bacteria to feed on and produce acid that attacks tooth enamel.
Limiting these acid plaque attacks during the day is a great way to give your teeth a break. This means only drinking these drinks at meal times when your saliva is working at its hardest to wash away food particles and bacteria. Or, better still, drinking tap water which not only rinses out your mouth, but doesn’t contain any acid and, in many parts of Australia, has the added benefit of containing fluoride.
The fact sheet on “Your Child’s Diet” has some great tips on the best way to drink sugary and fizzy drinks like using a straw for example. You’ll also find some information in there that might surprise you about why you shouldn’t brush teeth straight after drinking sweet or acidic drinks.
Teach Your Child Tooth-Friendly Eating and Drinking
Remember these simple guidelines and maybe even choose a day to devote to tooth-friendly eating and drinking.
- Cut out all snack foods between meals. If your child has to have a snack to keep them going before dinner, make sure they eat only foods that will be kind to their teeth like cheese, nuts or fruit and get them to wash it down with a glass of water immediately after eating. Acid plaque attacks can last up to 20 minutes after you’ve eaten (even if you’ve just had a nibble). The more times you eat during the day the longer your teeth are going to be exposed to acid plaque.
- Also try and cut out all fizzy, sugary and sports drinks, at least between meals during the day. Even better, try and cut them out completely and drink tap water instead.
- Only eat sweet things at the end of a meal when your saliva is working at its best to wash away food particles and bacteria. Better still, stick to cheese or fruit after a meal.
- After every meal wash food down with water (not sugary carbonated or sports drinks) and chew sugar free gum for 10 minutes to stimulate saliva flow. All this will help to quickly get rid of food particles and bacteria instead of allowing them to sit there causing damage to teeth.
