Which Foods Really Destroy Children’s Teeth?

Some doctors believe that the real trouble for children’s teeth is caused not by chocolate and candies, but by “healthy” drinks instead – juices, fruit cocktails, and smoothies.

The physicians believe the problem is that today’s children do not want to drink plain water – the most useful drink on the planet. They do not drink it even as they grow a little older. They do not have this culture, and their parents are guilty of it, since they offer their children juices, smoothies, cocoa and other sweetened natural substitutes from an early age, instead of giving their children the most natural liquid for a human being, plain water.

Britain’s leading dentist Catherine Hurley explains that fruit juices and cocktails, as a rule, are very acidic, and their pH levels range from two to three. And every time the environment in the mouth is more acidic than pH 5,5, the teeth get vulnerable to “acid attacks”. Parents, of course, understand that their child’s uncontrolled use of sweets can lead to tooth decay, but they do not know anything about acidity. Propaganda is certainly to be blamed for this, since it makes an emphasis on the harm of sweets, and juices are declared healthy drinks. According to Hurley, the most interesting thing is that the terrible picture of the “deterioration” of children’s teeth is observed more frequently in affluent families where parents do not spare money on healthy eating: fruit juices, smoothies, milkshakes…

So if Hurley’s message is heard, in the near future the manufacturers may be obliged to warn about the harm caused by fruit and sugary drinks, rather than tell about their health benefits. In the meantime, a good way is to offer your kids a straw if they are so fond of drinking juice instead of water. In addition, if the juice is drunk together with food, its negative impact on the teeth is greatly reduced. And this is the doctors’ second recommendation. It will also be good if you drink some plain water after juice, or rinse your mouth with water.