What Is the Healthiest Alternative to Sugar?

One of our primary concerns as your kids’ dentist in Roanoke is ensuring they avoid as much damaging or harmful agents as possible to maintain their good dental health. It’s not an easy task, but that won’t stop us from reminding parents about all the available alternatives and tips that can help their children enjoy good dental health. One point we really lean on is the dangers of sugar on your kids’ teeth.

Sugar can be delicious and help many things taste better, but it’s also one of the reasons why so many kids suffer from dental health complications. Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), around 45.8% of all children in the US suffer from some type of tooth decay? That’s a lot of kids with problems with their teeth. Before you read any further, please keep the following advice in mind: moderation is key. Excessive sugar consumption can endanger your kid’s dental and overall health.

Let’s take a closer look at the relationship between your kids’ teeth and sugar and some of the things you can do to avoid the dangers of consuming too much sugar.

Why Is Sugar So Bad for Kids’ Teeth?

The main reason why sugar is bad for your kid’s teeth is that it helps feed harmful bacteria left in their mouths. As the bacteria feed, they release corrosive agents that erode the tooth enamel layer, digging their way further and further into each tooth until they reach the softer tissues within.

Similarly, as sugar feeds bacteria around the base of your children’s teeth, the biofilm created hardens into plaque and leads to periodontal disease.

There’s already a great concern for the damaging effects of excessive sugar consumption due to diseases, such as diabetes, but it can also lead to hormonal imbalances in developing children and the dreaded dental health problems.

What Are Some Alternatives to Sugar?

Refined sugar is not the only way to sweeten your beverages or food. Sugar itself wasn’t discovered until the 11th Century, and human society had plenty of sweet treats then. Well, definitely not as many as we do now, but there were still ways to sweeten food.

Let’s take a closer look at some of them.

Stevia

Stevia is a common household name nowadays. This natural sweetener comes from the leaves of a shrub called Stevia rebaudiana is a plant-based sweetener that can be up to 450 times more powerful as a sweetener than refined sugar, though it has a distinctly different taste. The jury is still out on this one, but some research suggests excessive consumption of stevia can lead to damage to your gut biome.

Remember that everything in excess is bad for you.

Honey

This thick, golden liquid gifted to us by bees (please help save the bees!) contains trace amounts of vitamins, minerals, and several other compounds with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant benefits, which is a welcome addition to your diet (not a substitute for your child’s overall food requirements).

There is little to say about standardized honey production as many factors, including the type of bee that produces it, the flowers used to feed the bees, and much more can change the final composition of the product. Please be mindful about how much honey you use in your kid’s meals as it is still high in sugar and caloric content that can prove less-than-beneficial to your child when not used in moderation.

What is Xylitol?

Xylitol is a natural sweetener categorized as a sugar alcohol. The chemical composition of xylitol combines traits of sugar and alcohol, stimulating the taste receptors for sweetness on your tongue just as any other traditional sweetener.

Considering you can easily find xylitol in some vegetables and fruits, such as strawberries, raspberries, mushrooms, and cauliflower, we can say that this is a non-intense and natural sweetener. Most commonly, however, you can find xylitol as a processed product from trees like birch or another plant fiber called xylan.

One interesting factor about xylitol is that it contains about 40% fewer calories than sugar, but since it comes to our tables as a refined product, you shouldn’t expect any additional vitamins, minerals, or protein from it. This ingredient may not be as sweet as sugar, but it has become a common ingredient in sugar-free chewing gum, candies, safe-for-diabetes-patients foods, and some products for your oral care. The reason? This compound provides many benefits to your dental health.

Keep Brushing Your Kids’ Teeth

We applaud your interest in helping your kid’s dental health and making their diet as healthy and beneficial as possible; however, it won’t matter much for their dental health unless you combine these dietary choices with appropriate measures to keep tooth decay at bay.

First of all, please remember that your child should be brushing their teeth at least twice a day and using dental floss once, preferably at night. Additionally, you should help them brush their teeth for at least two minutes and join them to make it a fun activity. You can always check our guide on how to make brushing teeth fun for your kids.

A healthy combination of good oral hygiene and appropriate dietary choices will help prevent the onset of tooth decay and periodontal disease, which are some f the main factors that lead to baby gums bleeding. If you want to know how to treat bleeding gums in children, you can check our guide on that as well.

Talk to Your Roanoke Pediatric Dentist

Dr. Reopelle wants to help you and your kids enjoy good dental health, but that can only happen when you bring your children to a qualified professional trained in pediatric dentistry. Set an appointment and check out everything we can do to help keep your kids’ teeth as safe as possible.