Summer Holiday Dental Tips

We all love to nibble on food from time to time, busy lives have changed the way that many of us eat. The trend is away from 3 set meals to a habit of snacking or “grazing” as it is often known. This can happen even more during the School summer holidays, when our usual routines are disturbed.

Ideally  3 meals per day and minimal or no snacking is the best way to go. While this is ideal,  few of us live in this perfect world and  as a result we can often  need  something to munch on keep us going. So to avoid tooth decay why not try some of the things below.

 Snacks

 

• Rice cakes, oat cakes, crisp breads, breadsticks, mini pitta breads
• Vegetable strips - carrots, sweet pepper, celery, cucumber
• Mini salads - lettuce sweetcorn, mozzarella, pasta, tuna
• Fresh fruits -
• Nuts, peanuts, pistachios etc Suitable for older children and adults only as they can represent a choking hazard to young children and babies
• Cheeses - there is whole world of cheeses to choose from now why not let your children choose some new ones to try.

 

Drinks

 

• plain water
• plain milk

• for an occasional treat your own "diluting juice" with fresh Fruit juiced and diluted at least 1 part to 6 in water. remember not to add any sugar.

 

 For the younger members of the family why not involve your children in making some of these things? You never know you may have a budding Jamie Oliver or Delia in your family and not even know it. As ever moderation is the key as some of the low risk snacks for decay can have higher fat or salt contents so a good balance is always advisable.  

 

Finally  watch out when choosing sugar free items from shops. If the label says No Added Sugar – then the product still contains sugar and will most likely cause decay. To be totally safe the food needs to be marked – Sugar Free.

  

Don’t try and revolutionise your families diet, just take it bit at a time and the small changes can really add up and lead to a healthier body and a healthier mouth and smile.

Enjoy!

The Citrus Dentist
NHS Dentist In Edinburgh