The new school season is upon us! Like those of us here who are parents, you’re probably looking for ways to save time – which seems to disappear with all the extracurricular activities and transportation. If you’ve been to Carmichael Dental Care before, you know that we do lots of things to make  tooth-friendly snacks and lunches for school easy to assemble, one of the most beneficial being our nutritional counseling services!

Ideas For Tooth-Friendly Snacks & Lunches

Today, we’re extending that service to our Montgomery dental blog to help you gear up for the new school year with a few ideas for how to fill that lunchbox in a way that protects your child’s smile!

Foods The Scrub Your Teeth Clean!

We live in an age of convenience, and that can be a great thing, but not necessarily when it comes to our diet. Because it’s so easy to find unhealthy grab-and-go snacks in the store, it’s often easy to forget that so much of what we need for better oral health already exists in nature.

There are certain fresh fruits and vegetables that, by their structure and texture, sort of scrub your teeth clean as you eat them. Including raw carrot and celery sticks, as well as sliced apples, in your child’s lunchbox can be really helpful in boosting daily nutrients, saliva production, and their ability to fight oral bacteria!

Foods That Don’t Break Down Into Sugar!

Even foods that seem like healthy alternatives to sugary snacks that are unambiguously bad for your oral and overall health can be tough to avoid. That’s because crackers, pretzels, and other highly-processed, starchy foods are packed with refined carbs that break down into sugar as you eat them.

This won’t do your child’s teeth any favors!

But these days, it’s not hard to find veggie-based alternatives in stores that are disguised as salty, crunchy chips and snacks kids would enjoy. Just be sure to read the labels to make sure the lists of ingredients are very short and that you can pronounce what is listed. This is a popular rule of thumb in determining whether something is a healthy, more natural food option.

Foods That Make Teeth Stronger!

You’ll find an assortment of strength-building foods in the dairy section of the grocery store that are great for teeth!

Your child may enjoy yogurt and string cheese in their lunchbox this year, kid-friendly dairy options that contain casein, phosphate, and calcium that make enamel stronger. In fact, these nutrients can also repair microscopic damage to your tooth enamel and stabilize the pH in your mouth so that bacteria and harmful acids won’t get too cozy!

Foods That Won’t Literally Stick Around!

If you want to include some sort of treat to satisfy your child’s sweet tooth after lunch, stay away from anything gooey and sticky. That’s just an open invitation for bacteria to attack your child’s teeth long after the lunch bell rings!

A wiser choice would be a small piece of dark chocolate because it tastes great, doesn’t leave too much residue for saliva to wash away, and contains antioxidants that keep bad bacteria from transforming into acids that wear through tooth enamel!

Schedule An Appointment!

To make your family’s dental care easier, we offer nutritional counseling that can take all the guesswork out of which foods and drinks can help your child’s teeth stay clean and healthy, and which ones do more harm than good.

Let us help you start school with a full array of ideas for teeth-friendly snacks to pack in your child’s lunchbox this year!

Call Carmichael Dental Care at 334-600-1423 or use our online form to schedule your family’s next dental appointment!