Healthy Snacks For Healthy Teeth

Teeth Crave Their F.A.V. (fruits and veggies) – Feed your child many colors of fresh fruits and veggies for strong teeth and a healthy body.

Raw When Ready – Munching on raw veggies can help keep teeth healthy and clean. When children have their back teeth (molars), they can begin to eat raw veggies. Be sure to cut food into small pieces to keep your child from choking.

You Are What You Eat – If children eat sugary foods and drink sweet drinks, their bodies and their teeth will be unhealthy.

Why Buy Sugar? – Soda pop, powdered drinks, and punches have lots of sugar but no nutrition. Why buy things that make children get cavities and gain weight?

Less Is Better – Less sugar can help keep kids fit, and keep away problems like cavities, high blood sugar (diabetes), and weight gain.

Prevent Tooth Decay

Give Your Teeth A Bath – Fluoride toothpaste prevents cavities in children when used twice a day. Tell children that to keep teeth clean, they use toothpaste to give their teeth a bath.

Check For Spots – Check your child’s teeth for stains and chalky white or brown spots. These may be signs of cavities and you should take your child to the dentist.

Not Sharing Is Caring – Do not pre-taste or pre-chew your child’s food or share spoons, forks, or cups. When you do this, you are sharing germs that can cause cavities or make your child sick.

No Pain Helps Them Gain – Children who are having tooth aches from decayed teeth may not do well in school because they can’t concentrate on learning if they are in pain.

Less Is More – The less sugar your child eats and drinks will lay the foundation for more healthy visits with the doctor and dentist.

Water Your Teeth

Tap Into Your Water – Most tap water (or water from the faucet) has fluoride, which helps to protect your child’s teeth and makes them stronger. Most bottled water does not have fluoride.

Water Your Kids! – Children need water every day for their brains, bodies, and mouths to be healthy.

Wow Your Water – Put slices of lemon, lime, orange, or cucumber in your child’s water to add flavor and vitamins. This is better than soda and other sugary drinks that can cause cavities.

Limit Juice – Fruit drinks, powdered drinks, and even 100% fruit juice are sugar​y​ beverages. Limiting or eliminating juice will help reduce the amount of sugar you give your child. It's much more healthy for teeth to serve your child water instead of juice​ drinks​​.​

Every Sip Cleans – Drinking water throughout the day cleans your mouth with every sip, plus water washes away leftover food and reduces cavity-causing bacteria.

Cleaning Your Choosy Smile

Help Me Brush – Always help brush your child’s teeth, especially after breakfast and before bedtime. Help preschool children with brushing, and then supervise brushing until age 7 or 8.

Just A Little In The Middle – For children under three years, put a tiny bit of fluoride toothpaste, smaller than a pea, on a toothbrush made just for a small child. As your child gets older, increase the toothpaste to about the size of a pea.

Don’t Rush When You Brush – Help brush your child’s teeth for 2 minutes twice a day.  Consider using a timer or playing a Choosy song for 2 minutes while brushing teeth.

Give Those Teeth A Hug – Fluoride and brushing are very important for healthy teeth. Brushing every night before bed and every morning shows that you care about your teeth and the teeth of your children.

Take Charge

Be A Quarterback – Your child’s doctor, dentist, and dental hygienist are part of your health care team. You are the quarterback sharing information and making sure the “team” knows you and your child.

Choosy Is The Coach! – Choosy can help you follow the game plan for developing healthy children. Follow Choosy @choosykids to stay informed.

Know What’s Available – Know the services that are available to you through your insurance company and local agencies. Ask your health care team for help if you are not sure about the services that might be available for your child.

Be A Team Player- Be sure to make and keep the appointments you have with your team! As your child grows, your health care team can help you with information and services.

Go To The Dentist

VIP’s I Should Know – The dentist and the dental hygienist are very important people to know.  A Dentist is a doctor for your mouth. A dental hygienist helps prevent tooth decay by doing things like cleaning your teeth.

Healthy Teeth = Healthy Body – Your child needs healthy teeth to have a healthy body. Healthy teeth will help your child speak clearly, eat nutritious foods, and develop a healthy mouth.

Get It Done By One – Schedule your child’s first visit to the dentist as soon as you see the first tooth or by your child’s first birthday.  Call your dentist whenever you have questions about your child’s teeth.

Appear Two Times Each Year – You and your child should visit your dentist every six months to keep teeth cavity-free and to prevent having big problems later. Think about these appointments as your child's "well-child" visit to the dentist.

Read About It – Read to your child about healthy teeth and going to the dentist. This helps your child understand why going to the dentist is important and can make going to the dentist seem like an adventure.

Choosy Babies

Babies Need Healthy Mouths – Even before you see the first tooth, wipe your baby’s gums after feeding and before bedtime using a clean, damp wash cloth wrapped around your finger.

What’s In That Bottle? – Put only formula, breast milk, or water in a baby bottle. Juice or sweet drinks are not healthy for your baby and can cause sickness and tooth decay.

Water Your Pacifiers – Never dip a pacifier in honey, sugar, or anything sweet because this coats the mouth and teeth with sugar.  Never clean off a pacifier by putting it in your own mouth.

My Gums Are Tender- Your baby might drool, be more cranky than normal, and have sore, swollen gums while teeth break through gums. Use a clean, cold teething ring, cold spoon, or clean finger to rub baby’s gums.

Sugar-Free Lullaby – Do not put your baby to sleep with a bottle or a sippy cup of milk or juice because this can cause cavities.  Singing lullabies helps your child go to sleep and does not cause cavities!

Baby Teeth Are Important! – As soon as baby teeth appear, cavities can start. Use an infant toothbrush and water to clean baby’s first teeth.

Choosy Toddlers

Toddler Toothpaste – By 2 years old, start using a tiny dot of fluoride toothpaste (smaller than a pea) when you brush your toddler’s teeth.

Spit Don’t Rinse – Have your toddler spit out the toothpaste after brushing, but don’t rinse with water. The toothpaste that stays in your toddler’s mouth will coat teeth with fluoride that strengthens and protects them.

Bottle Free Naps And Bedtime - Finish bed-time and nap-time bottles before laying down for bed, otherwise your child’s drink may irritate or damage teeth while sleeping. Never put your child to bed with a propped up bottle.

Try a Cup When Year One is Up - Try to have your child start drinking from a cup around 12-14 months.

Safe Sippy Cups – For mouth safety, make sure your child is sitting down, not walking or running while drinking from a sippy cup.

Don’t Loose Baby Teeth To Cavities - It's important to keep baby teeth cavity free because they help your child speak, chew, and keep the space open for the next set of teeth.

Cup Or Sippy Cup? - A sippy cup is not a bottle and it's not a pacifier.  Unless it's being used at meal time with milk, fill a sippy cup ONLY with water.