Many parents come in telling us that bad teeth “run in the family” and that is the reason their child already has decay. The other issue is that parents tell us that it’s really hard to brush their child’s teeth or that they won’t do it on their own. The good news is that we believe that diet is the biggest factor and something you actually have control of.
To lower the chance your child will have cavities – choose whole foods over processed foods, less sticky snacks (this includes getting rid of gummy vitamins!), and make sure they are drinking a lot of water (less or zero sweetened beverages like juice, Gatorade, tea, soda, etc.). We actually encourage chocolate and icecream over 100% organic fruit chews/leathers because at least chocolate and icecream are soft and won’t stick into the grooves of the teeth.
See below for grocery shopping guides, thanks to TheDentistDad.com (author of More Chocolate, No Cavities):