How Drinking Juice Affects Your Child’s Teeth
What kid doesn’t love a great tasting juice? Not only can they be purchased in easily accessible packages, parents are happy when their kids drink juice because juice is good for them. Most fruits are full of critical vitamins and nutrients that your child requires to be healthy. While it is true that fruit has some good contents, it is important to think about whether letting your child have too much juice could actually do them some harm. Today we will dive into how fruit juice affects your child’s teeth and best practices for making sure that little smile stays perfect!
HOW HEALTHY IS FRUIT JUICE?
One might be led to think, in some part due to good marketing, that since juice is derived from fruit, it is naturally healthy. However, this isn’t necessarily the case. Believe it or not, depending on the juice, there may be a lot less nutritional value in what your child is drinking than you may think. There are a wide array of beverages labeled as a mixed juice blend, juice cocktail, juice drink, or fruit punch. Often, these beverages contain very low amounts of fruit directly from the fruit itself, if they contain any fruit at all. Instead, these beverages are typically filled with sugary additives, artificial sweeteners, and high-fructose corn syrup.
Another thing to consider is the amount of sugar that exists naturally in fruit. Beverages that contain 100% fruit juice can be packed with a lot of sugar that you might not know about without reading the label. Juices such as apple juice, grape juice, and cranberry juice often have nearly as much sugar as a standard soft drink. Be cautious when making purchases and be sure to read labels to ensure that your child is really drinking what you want them to drink.
PROBLEMS WITH DRINKING JUICE
Did you know that cavities are one of the most common chronic diseases of childhood in the United States. According to the CDC, about 1 in 5 children aged 5-11 years have at least one untreated decayed tooth. (
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/npao/oralhealth.htm) . While a number of factors put children at a high risk of tooth decay, most dentists believe that the consumption of sugary drinks such as juices plays an important role. The following are some factors to consider that make juice a potentially harmful drink for your child’s smile:
The Sugar Content: the more sugar that your child consumes in juices that they drink, the more your child is likely to develop a cavity at some point.
Acidity: fruit, particularly citrus fruit, is very acidic in nature. The acids contained within these types of fruits can rapidly eat away at tooth enamel with relative ease. These acids may weaken your child’s teeth over a period of time, leaving their teeth weaker, sensitive, and less protected from tooth decay.
Ingestion Method: when juice is consumed, the sugars from the fruit juice form pockets around the teeth and gums. The more often your child drinks juice throughout the day, the more often this will occur.
There is no need to panic when you initially realize how much sugar may be in your child’s beverages. Fortunately, there are an incredible number of beverages for kids on the market consisting of many different flavors and compositions. There are many drinks your child will come to love, and even some ways in which to make juice itself safer for their smile. Some examples are:
For children ages 1 to 6 years, the APP recommends limiting juice to 4 to 6 ounces a day. But juice should be given as part of a meal or snack. Avoid allowing your child to sip juice throughout the day.
Make fruit smoothies at home with ingredients such as coconut water, or natural sweeteners such as agave.
Consider adding water to the juice to lessen the harmful impact of sugars.
Drink more milk such as almond, oak, soy, rice, 2%, or nonfat milk.
Drink more water or eat natural fruit.
