Gum Care for Children: Foods to Avoid for Healthy Gums

Unless you are a dentist, it can be difficult to know what is right and wrong when it comes to gum care for children. One of the most important things that we can do for our kids to ensure that their gums stay in good shape is to give them good foods and to know what foods to avoid for healthy gums.

Foods to avoid for healthy gums

Here is a list of foods to avoid so a child’s gums stay healthy. This way, caregivers can help them make good decisions about their gum health and the things that they eat.

Acidic fruits and drinks

Many fruits contain natural sugars, which can be better than many artificial sugars available. However, not all fruits are created equal. Highly acidic fruits can be damaging to both the teeth and gums. Worse, if a child has sensitive gums or an open wound along the gum line, contact with acidic fruits will be a painful experience.

Chewy candy

Chewy candy tends to get stuck to the teeth and gums, and this can cause damage and debris buildup because it can be challenging to remove everything, even with brushing and flossing. Also, many chewy candies are full of sugar, which can be damaging to the teeth and gums.

If a child does eat chewy candy, they should brush and rinse thoroughly afterward to try to remove as much of the sugar and candy deposits as possible. The longer that the residual candy sits at the base of the teeth and along the gumline, the more damage that it can do.

Starchy foods

Not everyone knows that starch is just another form of sugar, which is bad for the gums. It can be a good idea for caregivers to limit how much their kids eat starchy foods, particularly things made from potatoes. Other things, like bread and pasta made from regular white flour, are also high in starch and should be avoided.

Like sugar, starch sticks to the surfaces of the teeth, eventually eating into the gums, which can cause damage. The best way to deal with this is by rinsing and brushing after every meal.

Sugary drinks

One of the worst things for children's gum health is one of the most common things that caregivers can give them: sugar-filled drinks. Even drinks that claim to be 100% natural fruit juice are typically still full of sugar. This makes it challenging to tell which drinks are safe for the teeth and gums and which ones are detrimental.

If it is difficult to avoid sugary drinks completely, try to balance the child’s intake with water and other tooth-safe choices, and have them brush and floss often. Gum care for children is easier, though, if they can avoid these types of beverages altogether.