Flavoured water - a tooth question

purplepatch

My 3 year old drinks a lot of fruit juice - previously apple, but when I heard that was one of the worst offenders for tooth decay I switched her onto OJ.

She seems to really like those still flavoured waters though and I was wondering about switching to that - would that be any better for her teeth than pure juice? No sugar but there are artificial sweeteners etc so not sure whether would be any benefit.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

(Oh and no, she won't drink plain water!)

chatta

She would drink water if she was really really thirsty ! try diluting the drinks she like down gradually. Sounds harsh but so is having your teeth pulled......... Pretend you have nothing else in the house she can drink.......

Toothsmith

Just what I was going to say!

The only SAFE drinks toothwise are milk and water. Everything else will do some degree of damage, which rises with the frequency that the drinks are given.

The only reason kids refuse milk & water is because they have aquired a taste for other things. If they didn't know sweet fruity drinks existed, they wouldn't want them.

The way to get them back on the straight & narrow is to do what Chatta suggested and water the drinks down over a period of a few days until it is just water they are drinking.

The thing that does the damage, as well as the sugar, is the acidity of a drink.

Sugar will be broken down by bacteria in the mouth to form an acidic compound. This will break down the surface of the tooth, and when broken, bacteria will invade the space, and as they are being fed with sugar, the process will continue to eat into a tooth.

If a drink is just acidic in itself, then the acid washing over the tooth will gradually errode away the enamel. If there isn't much sugar in the diet, then bacterial invasion will not occur to the same extent, and actual decay will not take place, but the teeth will still slowly wear away.

So - get her back onto milk & water, or save up for the dental treatment!

I bet she'll be drinking water within the week!

purplepatch

I was hoping you'd reply Toothsmith, so thanks

I will give it a go. She's a headstrong little minx at the moment, but if there's nothing else in the house, then she'll have to put up with it. She drinks loads of milk - far outweighs the juice, so at least that's ok.

And it's certainly moneysaving to boot, not just on the dental treatment!

Ted_Hutchinson

Ordinary tapwater is more appealing if it has first been transferred for a few hours to the fridge to cool right down, add a few ice cubes and it's even better.

I find those disposable ice cube bags where you fill up the bag, freeze it and then pull off the cubes as needed are extremely simply and easy to use, but that may be because we have a larder fridge and freezers so don't have a good place to stand an ice cube tray. Adding a slice of lemon or lime may also make it a bit more special. I also think it's a good idea for your child to see how much you enjoy drinking water.

Toothsmith

Good suggestions Ted, But don't allow sucking or chewing of the Lemon/lime slices.

Another point is that slightly older kids, who have just started getting their second teeth often go through a phase of really noticing how much more sensitive adult teeth are compared to baby teeth.

A new adult tooth is not fully mature when it comes through, and has a huge nerve space in the middle into which more dentine is layed down as the kid gets older. Therefore, new adult teeth are much more temperature sensitive than older teeth, and considerably more so than baby teeth.

I just mention this in case a child who enjoyed chilled water suddenly goes off it.

My youngest is right off ice cream on his pudding at the moment, and I'm sure the reason is all the new front teeth in his mouth.

troll35

I've found that children who won't drink water from a glass or beaker will often drink it by the gallon (well not quite) from a sports type bottle.

Toothsmith

Another good point - especially if it's a brand seen in the hand of the latest teen idol!

Of course, you only need to ever buy one or two of these bottles, and then just fill them from the tap & keep them in the fridge like Ted suggested!

troll35

I tried to edit my post above but it doen't seem to have worked so here goes again...

Re; Artificial sweeteners. According to the literature that I've got from the food advisory service it is illegal for maufacturers to use artificial sweeteners in product designed and marketted for babies and toddlers (under 3's). So I would avoid if at all possible. I have a right bug-bear about artificial sweeteners...I hate them I hate them I hate them (bit fanatical that way...sorry!). Even sugar free drinks erode teeth as they usually still have fruit acids etc that attack the enamel.

I give the kids I care for milk or water as they want it and dilute pure fruit juice with main meals as the vitamins can help with absorbtion of minerals like iron from their food.