It's difficult to pass up on tasty, carbonated drinks, but it's important to understand the impact these drinks have on your enamel. Soda can cause an increase of bacteria to multiply in your child's mouth, which could lead to tooth decay. There are measures you can take to help mitigate the impact, or choose a more tooth-friendly beverage that doesn't have such a detrimental effect.

How does soda affect teeth?

If your children drink soda, whenever they sip it from a can or gulp from a massive plastic cup; they may be placing themselves at extra chance of having cavities. Bacteria withinside the mouth feed on sugar, which produces teeth enamel-attacking acid. Over time, those soda empowered acid assaults to your children's enamel will cause cavities.

What are the best drinks for children's teeth?

• Milk: Dairy products have been known to aid in increasing saliva activity, which is a natural way of protecting your teeth. Also, milk has calcium and phosphates can assist in recalcifying the enamel on your child's teeth.
• Decaffeinated Tea: You'll need to keep away from giving your baby sugary iced teas due to the fact they could facilitate teeth decay, however unsweetened tea may be a teeth-pleasant drink. The University of Rochester Medical Center states there are polyphenols in tea that assist combat micro organism. Use fluoridated water to brew the tea, and it will be even higher. Choose an herbal tea to avoid caffeine.
• Water: Water is the optimal beverage for enamel. Whenever possible, drink tap water since most of the time, your city fortifies the water with fluoride which can help prevent cavities. If your neighborhood tap water is not potable or not an option, many bottled water services include fluoride too. Since water does not contain any sugar, it does not lead to creating new bacteria in your mouth. In fact, it helps to clean your child's mouth so it's actually beneficial.

The impact of fruit juices on your teeth

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends which you do not supply any juice to toddlers earlier than they're 12 months old. Even then, given the high amounts of sugar in juice, they suggest limiting them to drink juice in general. Many parents believe that juice is better than soft drinks, but juice can often have just as much sugar as your carbonated sodas. Both can lead to tooth decay and other health issues.

Start practicing good oral hygiene habits at a young age to help support those good habits throughout their lives. In addition to making sure they are eating and drinking things with little sugar, it's important that you remind them to brush two times a day, the use of antibacterial mouth rinses, and use floss to get those hard-to-get-to places in the mouth. Being conscientious of how meals and drinks have an effect on their oral hygiene is essential.

How does diet soda affect your teeth

Both regular and diet sodas have detrimental affects to your teeth. While carbonation alone does not appear to cause erosion to your tooth enamel, the added ingredients can aid in the demineralization of teeth.

If avoiding soft drinks altogether is not an option, there are ways you can help to minimize the damage to your teeth:

• Drink in moderation - Try to reduce your intake of sodas over time, ultimately targeting less than 3 sodas per week
• Use a straw - While ingesting sodas may be bad for your health, it's not bad for your teeth. What you want to try to avoid is having the soda touch your teeth. Drinking through a straw could help keep the acids and sugar away from your teeth
• Rinse with water after drinking soda - Wash away the sugars and acids from your teeth would be another way to minimize damage and prevent more bacteria from growing in your mouth
• Wait an hour before brushing - Though counterintuitive, brushing your teeth will be abrasive and could do more harm than good. Wait an hour before you brush.
• Drink less acidic sodas - Colas (Pepsi and Coke) are the most acidic soft drinks, followed by Dr. Pepper and Gatorade. Try to switch to less acidic drinks such as Sprite or 7-Up. While diet drinks can still be acidic, they are less acidic that regular colas.