Are you a cheese family? If not, try it! It’s delicious, nutritious, and teeth friendly, especially for young baby teeth!
Cheese is chewy, sour, sweet, crumbly and creamy — sometimes all at once. Start your kids early on cheese and they’ll crave it as a healthy snack or even dessert.
Cheese can be a very fun snack for kids. They come in shapes, all different colors and flavors, and can be eaten with other yummy snacks like crackers.
Why cheese?
Unlike some healthy snack options, cheese is convenient. You don’t have to prep it. Just buy it, stick it in the fridge, and when your child wants it, slice a little bit off! A rounded scooper can harvest you some cheese balls quite easily, too!
Cheese also fights harmful mouth bacteria. It helps prevent cavities by neutralizing plaque acids before they can do any harm.
Remember the key word: acid. Acids are a tooth’s number one enemy. Fermented food, like cheese, makes the mouth more alkaline, raising your mouth pH levels. Saliva does the same thing, but your body can’t keep up if your kid is eating acidic food (pop, tomato sauce, candies).
In this way, cheese can be a delicious and also very tooth friendly snack. It tastes great paired with acidic food too. Think grapes and gouda. Apples/pears with brie or cheddar. Raspberries and cream cheese. Yum!
Unlike milk, which can do more harm than cheese due to sugar content, cheese contains compounds that blanket the tooth enamel, protecting them from acids.
Avoid processed cheese
Buy as natural as possible. Processed cheese has many of the nutrients filtered out of them. Non-fat and low-fat cheese have carbs replacing the fat! So go natural! Befriend the people at the cheese counter at your favorite supermarkets or delis. They can help you and your child try some new and healthy snack cheeses.
About Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontic Specialists of Michigan, the offices of Drs. Plunkett, Ralstrom, Makowski, Thanasas, Ker, and Associates
Pediatric Dentistry and Orthodontic Specialists of Michigan have specialized in pediatric dentistry and orthodontics since 1968. Our family-friendly and newly renovated office gives patients and families a more comfortable and consistent experience with dentistry from the very beginning. Our pediatric dentists treat children from newborn to 18 years of age while our orthodontists provide care for both children and adults and are proud to be Premier Providers of Invisalign and Invisalign Teen services. The ability to treat all patients with compassion and individuality, including those that may have special needs reaches beyond our facility, which has treatment rooms available for children who require additional privacy and customized care options. We pioneered valued hospital affiliations to allow dental services to be performed at DMC Children’s Hospital and St. John Macomb Hospital, when appropriate or necessary, and our specialists are also proud to be on staff at Henry Ford and Beaumont hospitals.
