These Thanksgiving Foods Can Give Your Child Cavities

thanksgiving2

Dentist For Kids Franklin Lakes

From the PDA Ridgewood team, we’d like to wish all of our loyal readers and clients a very happy Thanksgiving! Celebration is in the air and the turkey is in the oven. Time to set aside some space for the biggest meal of the year. But let’s not rush into anything without reviewing a few precautionary tips regarding your child’s dental hygiene first. We know, the dentist is the last thing you or your child would like to think about during the holidays. So we’ll do our best to make this quick. Here’s everything you need to know about which Thanksgiving foods are most damaging to your child’s teeth, brought to you by the best dentist for kids Franklin Lakes experts around.

Stuffing

You knew it was coming. That stuffing was too delicious not to be bad for you, right? Above all, the offending ingredient of most stuffing recipes is the bread contents. Starch is filled with bacteria that cause cavities. These bacteria, if you leave them unattended for long enough, will hack away at your teeth’s enamel. Little by little, they get to the core. And by that time it will already be too late. The other big concern about consuming starch is its stickiness. Similar to eating gummy bears, bread tends to hang around on your teeth long after you’ve finished your meal, which means the bacteria that cause cavities have more time to do their work while you’re not paying attention.

Cranberry Sauce

Well it’s certainly a staple of Thanksgiving dinners. And due to the fact that most households reserve it for this one time of the year, we’re all the more likely to really go to town on the cranberry sauce once it’s finally on the table. What’s the issue. Well, we hate to break it to you but as it turns out cranberry sauce is incredible sweet. That sugar, just like the starch from your favorite stuffing, is feeding the wrong kind of bacteria. You probably could have also guess that cranberry sauce holds little to no nutritional value. No protein or fiber but lots and lots of sugar. So, eat at your own discretion.

Sweet Potato Casserole

Sweet potatoes actually are pretty healthy. They have plenty of nutrients and they’re great for your gums. But when you mix them up into a casserole they’ll end up having the opposite effect. Just like the cranberry sauce, what makes that sweet potato casserole so tasty is the sweet part, which is mostly in the marshmallow outer layer.. And the sweet part, as you already know, is never good for the pearly whites. But not all hope is lost, at least not for the sweet potato casserole. This year, see if you can convince whoever’s responsible the casserole to drop the marshmallows for a change and replace them with something a bit more savory.

We don’t want to ruin your Thanksgiving. Just because the above ingredients are bad for you and your child’s teeth doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy a tasty meal. You deserve it! Just make sure that afterwards you and your kid do an extra thorough job brushing, rinsing, and flossing. And also be sure to book your next appointment with PDA’s dentist for kids Franklin Lakes specialists. For more info, give our office a call today at 201-652-7020.

dentist for kids Franklin Lakes

Specialized dentistry for children and adolescents in a warm, caring and "child-friendly" environment.