Dental health is a pretty sure indicator of your child’s diet.

When I examine a child's teeth during a physical exam, I can pretty accurately determine how healthy their diet is and how well they are digesting their foods.

No, it is not all about how often or how hard your child brushes their teeth. It goes deeper than this.

From the alignment of their baby or adult teeth, the color and location of their gums, the color and consistency of the surface of their tongue, and the quality of their bone, dentists can very quickly determine how healthy or not a child's diet is. 

Essentially, no fibbing to the dentist about what your kid eats, they can figure it out for themselves!

Clearly, a lot can be determined from a quick oral exam.

What is also important to talk about is what we see in the mouth can also be an indirect measure of the health of a child's oral and gut microbiome. (It is connected to their mouth microbiome after all!)

When I say microbiome, I am talking about the layers of bacteria that cover the gut, sinuses, mouth, throat, colon, and everything in between. 

When a child experiences a cavity, a lot of factors in their mouths are what contribute to the inability to fight off that infection. 

Well, so what are these things that help prevent and fight off infections? Oral enzymes that break down food, saliva, the pH of the saliva, and the beneficial, healthy bacteria!

This recent study concluded that providing additional Lactobacillus paracasei SD1 in a liquid suspension for 6 months 3 times per week in preschool-aged children reduced the rates of dental caries by 17%, and even regressed existing cavities by 76-101% in different study groups. The more that was supplemented, the better the outcome.

WOW.

The bacteria HEALED the cavities! 

Pretty neat.

Now there are other factors that dictate the quality of our saliva, oral enzymes, and other beneficial bacteria and that would be what we eat and drink!

Other ways we can prevent cavities:

• Controlling added sugars our children consume (none is best!)

• Balancing carbohydrates with protein and fats in the diet

• Drinking water over juices and milk

• Staying hydrated THROUGHOUT the day so there is enough saliva and moisture in the mouth 24/7.

• Effectively brushing the teeth twice per day (mouth washing and flossing if you are lucky)

• Make sure your child does not have sleep apnea or excessive mouth breathing. (talk to your doc of you suspect this!

And make sure your child is not sneaking snacks and treats in the middle of the night after tooth brushing! Yup. Caught my 3 year old red handed just last week. Time to lock the pantry at night.

**The product used in this study is not available commercially to date though there are products that contain this strain that you can make a similar solution to it at home. Please consult your child's doctor