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ne BACK TO SCHOOL Dental check-ups Elmvale dentist, Dr. Brian Cole suggests you choose nutritional snacks that are good for both the teeth and the body. Avoid snacks with sugar and choose instead vegetables, fruits or cheeses. He also suggests regular check-up and making sure children clean their teeth throughout the day with an extra good brushing at nighttime before going to bed. Children always arrive home from school hungry. After school snacking is important to these youngsters after a hard day at school. There is nothing wrong with between meal snacking pro- vided you choose snacks low in sugar and high in nutritional value. Starting your child eating properly at an early age will result in better health and provided, proper care is taken, teeth that will last a lifetime. Many years ago baby teeth were thought not to be impor- tant. It is now known that primary teeth do serve a useful purpose. These teeth help in the placement of the permanent teeth as the jaw grows. These primary teeth must be kept clean as any decay unchecked could damage the permanent teeth before they even erupt. Hav- ing healthy baby teeth that allow the adult teeth to grow properly could mean your child may never have to wear braces. With the expense of braces in mind, proper eating is a good idea. As parents, it is important to set a good example by eating and serving only nutritional foods. Snack foods most parents remember they ate as children were high in sugar, salt or fat, but low in nutrients. As a result, many parents to- day sport a mouthful of silver or are wearing teeth they take out at night. Snacks can be classified in- to four groups. One group consists of snacks that are good for both your health and teeth. These are low in sugar and high in nutrients. The se- cond and third groups may have some value for the body, but not for the teeth. For this reason they are not recom- mended as snacks. The fourth group consists of snacks harmful for both the body and the teeth. Plaque is the tooth's worst enemy. With snack foods that have a high sugar contents such as cake, cookies and pies, harmful acid is very quickly produced. Tooth decay is caused by plaque which is bacteria. This bacteria uses sugar to form an acid which will dissolve the tooth enamel. The Simcoe County Health Unit suggests snacks such as plain yogurt with fresh fruit, milkshakes with fresh fruit, almonds, devilled eggs, hot apple juice with a cinnamon stick, whole wheat toast with unsweetened applesauce and nutmeg, raw vegetables, bak- ed apples or cherry tomatoes dipped in herbed yogurt. Elmvale Dentist, Dr. Brian Cole suggests if serving a sweet dessert or snack, dinner would be the best time. The teeth can be brushed after dinner, whereas sweet snacks throughout the day subject the teeth to constant acid attacks. While consuming dinner there is a higher salivary flow which helps to wash sugars away more quickly. With brushing after meals the mouth has a chance to return to normal faster. Dr. Cole also notes children who start their day with a sweet breakfast, such as pre- sweetened cereal or sweet roll, get an instant sugar boost. By the time recess roles around this boost has worn off and if parents send a ju Choose nutritional snacks sweet snack for this time the cycle starts all over again. The cycle becomes worse if they have sweet snacks for lunch and afternoon recess as well. Besides constantly forming plaque on the teeth the child is subjected to many highs and lows throughout the day. Send cheese and crackers or celery and peanut butter for recess snacks If your child can't brush at noon time, include an apple in his or her lunch. Although ap- ples are naturally sweet, the sugar in fruit washes away quickly in the mouth. While this is not as good as brushing, it will help a bit. Dr. Cole recommends children take fluoride pills until the age of 12 or until all per- manent teeth are in. Teeth should be brushed throughout the day with a good cleaning before bedtime. Parents should supervise their children's brushing until they know their children are old enough to do a responsible job. As well, parents should floss their children's teeth every night until they acquire the dexterity to do it themselves. Above all make sure your child visits their dentist twice a year for regular check ups Parents have a responsibili- ty to buy products with little sugar. Get in the habit of reading labels. The manufac- turer lists all the ingredients on packages in the order of the quantity used. As well, remember sugar comes in many forms such as fructose, sucrose and maltose. WIN ountainview Mall MILLIONAIRE Enter your name in our Millionaire For A Day Contest and you may be eligible to treat your friends like a millionaire! Atrceon QAINMULOUILCES. . 1. Chauffeur driven to and from school 2. Lunch for you and your classmates 3. An afternoon of fun for you and your classmates Mountainview Mall HWY 93 Midland Ba. ~-hoc! August 1987, page 3A