Your Child’s Oral Care
Common Problems
Acid Erosion
Fruit juice and carbonated drinks (even diet ones) are often acidic. If your children drink them often — especially from a bottle — the acid can lead to erosion of the enamel in their teeth. This is different from tooth decay because rather than being focused at a specific point, acid erosion attacks the whole surface of the tooth at once by eventually making the entire protective surface of enamel thinner.
This can make the teeth sensitive, and can also make them more vulnerable to decay.
But there are some simple ways it can be avoided:
- Only put milk or water in bottles
- Always dilute fruit juice with water: 1 part juice to 10 parts water
- Restrict carbonated drinks and fruit juices to mealtimes. Between meals, give them milk or water.
- Encourage children to use a straw, directed to the back of the mouth, if you give them soda or fruit juices. This will mean the acid will have less contact with the teeth.
- Don’t let your children swish drinks around in their mouths.
- Don’t brush teeth immediately after your children have had an acidic drink.
- After you’ve brushed their teeth at night, make sure children only have water to drink. Immediately after brushing, teeth are even more vulnerable to tooth erosion.