At the start and end of each day, children from your service are brushing their teeth and gums—supervised and assisted—for a healthy, sparkly smile. Maintaining dental health goes beyond twice daily toothbrushing though and early childhood educators have an important part to play. You can help children and families at your service to make good oral health part of their routines by supporting them to learn more about the important role of dental health.
Healthy foods for healthy teeth
A healthy diet plays a big part in maintaining healthy teeth and gums. In your setting you can work with cooks, staff and parents to promote healthy eating and offer a variety of nutritious foods in your menu such as:
• vegetables
• fruits
• cereals
• lean meat
• fish • chicken
• legumes
• milks
• yoghurts
• cheeses.
To help prevent tooth decay, it’s important to minimise availability of ‘sometimes’ foods that are high in sugar like:
• chocolate
• lollies
• sweetened breakfast cereals • biscuits
• fruit bars
• dried fruit
• muesli bars.
Kids (and adults too) should also minimise their intake of foods that are high in simple carbohydrates such as savoury, starchy crackers and chips. These foods are quickly converted to sugar in our bodies.Sugary foods and drinks, and foods that are high in simple carbohydrates (like chips and sweet biscuits) are often associated with reward and celebrations like birthdays. Think about other ways to host a celebration at your service that still feel special and exciting, but don’t rely on this sort of ‘sometimes’ food.
Choosing the best drinks
The drinks we choose also have a big influence on oral health—a general rule of thumb is to avoid sugary, acidic drinks including:
• soft drink
• juice
• cordial • flavoured milk
• sports drinks
• flavoured water.
While many of these sugary drinks are marketed towards children, water is actually the best drink that you can give a child. In areas with fluoride in the water, tap water is of particular benefit and much less expensive than bottled water.For babies, encourage parents to only use feeding bottles and sippy cups for milk and water—not sweet drinks, and discourage parents from settling children with a bottle.
Parent fact sheets
If you’re concerned about the oral health habits of a child in your setting, you might like to share our Grow & Thrive parent fact sheets with their parents or caregivers. These are packed with information on why oral health is so important, and tips on how to look after those little teeth and gums.
Where to find help
There are more resources available that you can share with families to encourage good oral health. The Raising Children Network provides in-depth oral health resources tailored for newborns, babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers.
When more help is needed, parents and their children can also speak with a range of health professionals including dental professionals, family doctors, maternal and child health nurses, and paediatricians.