Acid erosion on teeth

clare64

My children have, from a nutritional point of view, a very healthy diet. They always exceed their 5 a day and eat very little sugar.They only drink milk or water, on the rare occasions they have juice they drink it through a straw.
HOWEVER, I am concerned about acid erosion on their teeth.They absolutely love fruit and eat loads of it. I have spoken to their dentist who did not seem too worried about it and said he would rather treat a child with acid erosion than with decay caused by eating too many sweets.
Apart from limiting their fruit intake is there anything else that I can do?
Many thanks
Clare

Nile

Hello clare64

I'm sure a dentist will post soon.

I've heard that eating a small cube of cheese (after the fruit) can help to protect teeth. If your dentist isn't worried..............why are you worried?

Nile

Fen1

Never brush teeth immediately after eating. You have to give your saliva a chance to work in the mouth by neutralizing the acid in food for an hour after eating. Brushing twice a day is more than enough.

Gargling with mouth-wash is good, ones without alchol are less drying.

There is little point in stressing too much if they are very young - their teeth are going to fall out and be replaced by adult teeth anyway. Just set up good oral hygiene habits.

The following link gives good advice:
http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/dentalhealth/Pages/Teethcleaningguide.aspx

Toothsmith

Not exactly a helpful thing for the dentist to say.

I would rather have kids grow up with nothing to treat.

The key really is everything in moderation. there are few things that are good for you in excess. In fact I can't think of any.

Why do the kids need to eat so much fruit?

There is no harm to teeth if they only have 3-4 acid/sugar attacks a day. So let them eat whatever they want to at mealtimes, but snacking is the enemy. Try and fill them up at mealtimes so that the need for snacks is taken away.

If they do need a snack, then go for something that's not too acidic - like a bannana.

But anyway - what age are the kids? And are there any signs of acid errosion yet?

jenniewb

I have big acid erosion problems due to many years of eating disorders and diet coke. For a long while it was too painful to eat or drink many things.

I think the best product I have found to help me is the Sensodyne Pronamel. Its by far a solve all as there are still things I can't eat (just not as many!) and my teeth are still wearing more then the average persons (probably as I still eat alot of fruit, drink too much diet drinks) I now eat/drink better then I used to but still not perfect...yet! I do find that if I stop using the Pronamel my teeth begin to really hurt again, and thats even if I swap to a regular Sensodyne tooth paste so there is definetly something in this product.

They do have a kids range which also includes a mouth wash. Expensive but you can pick it up on offer at roughly 1/3 off if you scour the shops hard enough.

clare64

Thanks to everyone for their replies and good advise.

Toothsmith - My children are 10 years old and nearly 6 year old twins. The 10 year old has, apart from the odd one or two, his adult teeth. The 6 years olds have all their baby teeth, they have not started falling out yet.
Our dentist says that the 6 year olds teeth are perfect. The 10 year old had to have a 'film' on one of his back teeth as the enamal was not developing properly. His teeth are also quite discoloured. Other than that they are fine.
A locum dentist once advised that my eldest should use a non alcoholic mouth wash which we started to use, I mentioned it to our regular dentist and he said they were a waste of money - where do you stand on this?
Regarding the fruit consumption, my children just love it! They are taught at school that to be healthy they need to eat fruit ( and veg), when they play sport they are given oranges and other fruit, we also grow lots of different berries in the garden and they eat them all. Not because they are hungry, but because they are there.
What do you think about Pronamel toothpaste?
Many thanks
Clare

Toothsmith

It doesn't seem like there are any real dental problems then, so I wouldn't worry too much.

I would repeat though that fruit is only 'healthy' when eaten in balance and proportion. It can cause problems, like anything, when eaten in excess.

Having said that, I get the feeling that it isn't reeally eaten in 'excess' by your kids - but eating something just because it's there isn't the best dietry habit to get into really. Although it will only 'be there' for a few short months each year if it's on your own trees and bushes, so it is quite a 'natural' pattern of eating.

Regarding Mouthwash, I'm not a fan of it's regular blanket use. It can have it's place, and if a dentist recommended a particular one for a particular child with a particular problem, then I wouldn't argue with that - especially as I hadn't seen the child.

Pronamel also is a good toothpaste. It is a fine general toothpaste as well as being good for people for whom errosion might be a problem. If your worried about potential future problems with errosion from fruit consumption though, I'd sooner recommend getting a bit of control over the fruit intake rather than condone the poor habit and try to recommend a toothpaste to counter it.

clare64

Thanks for all your good advise Toothsmith.
I will cut down their fruit intake by giving them something else to eat after school instead of letting them raid the fruit bowl /garden.
As part of their packed lunch I make them a little plastic pot with usually pear, grapes and apple with orange juice. Is this ok because it is part of a meal ?
Is fruit, juiced or made into a smoothie any better , if it is drunk through a staw?
What do you think of Nile's idea of eating a piece of cheese after eating fruit - it would be great if it works!
Sorry for the list of questions but I do want them to enjoy eating food that they like ,but not if it causes a problem with their teeth.
Many thanks

Toothsmith

clare64 wrote: »

Thanks for all your good advise Toothsmith.
I will cut down their fruit intake by giving them something else to eat after school instead of letting them raid the fruit bowl /garden.
As part of their packed lunch I make them a little plastic pot with usually pear, grapes and apple with orange juice. Is this ok because it is part of a meal ?
Is fruit, juiced or made into a smoothie any better , if it is drunk through a staw?
What do you think of Nile's idea of eating a piece of cheese after eating fruit - it would be great if it works!
Sorry for the list of questions but I do want them to enjoy eating food that they like ,but not if it causes a problem with their teeth.
Many thanks

Fruit eaten as part of a meal will be fine. Give kids anything they want at meal times - it's the between meal times that you have to be careful.

Fruit after school would be better than anything with sugar in it, so be careful what you substitute! maybe a less acidic fruit like a bananna?

Juiced fruit and smoothies are actually worse - as the sugar normally bound up in the fruit is released more by the juicing process - and smoothies are often sweetened through the ice-cream/yogurt/honey that is added to them as well. Through a straw is better - but if it's between mealtimes, what's wrong with a glass of milk? Milk is completely safe, dentally speaking, to drink between meals. But Milk and water (with nothing in) are the only 'safe' drinks.

Cheese after an acid attack IS a good way to help repair the damage - but as I've said before, I would sooner the damage were not done in the first place.

clare64

Thank you for all your good advice.
I was going to give them popcorn as a snack ( the type that you put in an electric popcorn maker) so it is just a piece of corn without any sugar or salt - I think it is like polystyrene, but they like it. I will also as you suggest,offer them bananas.
I was going to make the soothies/ juices myself, however, because of the sugar release, I think I will give it a miss.
Cheese is definately an option. During half time, when they are playing football, they will try to eat nearly half their body weight in oranges. I will curb that but will also take some cheese with me.
Again, many thanks for all your help.
Clare