Toothy Tips
Home Dental Care
Brushing your teeth after every meal will help keep your smile bright. Flossing every day will keep your gums healthy and ensure you have beautiful teeth well into adulthood. Your Camp Smile doctors want you to avoid beverages, food and candy that have high sugar content or acidity. Be sure to have dental cavities treated or managed promptly in order to avoid later dental problems.
Parents, ensure your new infant develops healthy teeth by wiping their mouth out with a clean, damp washcloth before bed. Never put your child to bed with a bottle that has anything but water in it.
Nutritional Tips
Whole foods typically produce less damaging acid, but there is no food that makes toothbrushing and flossing unnecessary. Does your child enjoy candy? Enjoyment in moderation can be OK, but you should know the dental consequences. Check the tables below for your child’s favorite candies and sodas — you may want to consider the damage they can cause before encouraging consumption of the candies below.
Candy Acidity Chart
| 1g candy/5mLwater | pH (acidity) |
|---|---|
| pH at which teeth lose enamel | 4.0 |
| Spree | 3.0 |
| Sweetarts | 3.0 |
| Big Stuff Pacifier sucker | 3.0 |
| Sour Gummi Bears | 3.0 |
| X-treme Airheads | 3.0 |
| Sour Punch Straws | 2.5 |
| Shockers | 2.5 |
| Skittles | 2.5 |
| Baby Bottle Pop powder | 2.5 |
| Brach’s Gummi Bears | 2.5 |
| Sqwigglies Gummi Worms | 2.5 |
| Wonka Laffy Taffy | 2.5 |
| Starburst | 2.4 |
| Sweet Tarts Shock | 2.4 |
| Lemon Heads | 2.4 |
| Mentos fruit chew | 2.4 |
| Warheads Sour Rips Roll | 2.3 |
| Lollipop Paint Shop | 2.2 |
| Zours | 2.2 |
| Sour Skittles | 2.2 |
| Airheads cherry chew | 2.2 |
| Wonka Nerds grape | 2.0 |
| Now and Later cherry chew | 1.9 |
| Too Tart Extra Sour Goo | 1.9 |
| Wonka Pixy Stix powder | 1.9 |
| Altoids Mango Sours | 1.9 |
| Wonka Fun Dip powder | 1.8 |
| Warheads Sour Spray | 1.6 |
| Battery Acid | 1.0 |
Soda Acidity Chart
| pH (acidity) | tsp | |
|---|---|---|
| pH at which teeth lose enamel | 4.0 | |
| Pure Water | 7.0 (neutral) | 0.0 |
| Barq’s | 4.61 | 10.7 |
| Diet Barq’s | 4.55 | 0.0 |
| Diet 7Up | 3.67 | 0.0 |
| Sprite | 3.42 | 9.0 |
| Diet Dr. Pepper | 3.41 | 0.0 |
| Diet Coke | 3.39 | 0.0 |
| Diet Mountain Dew | 3.34 | 0.0 |
| Grape Minute Maid Soda | 3.29 | 11.9 |
| Mountain Dew | 3.22 | 11.0 |
| Fresca | 3.20 | 0.0 |
| Orange Slice | 3.12 | 11.9 |
| Diet Pepsi | 3.05 | 0.0 |
| Nestea | 3.04 | 5.0 |
| Surge | 3.02 | 10.0 |
| Gatorade | 2.95 | 3.3 |
| Dr. Pepper | 2.92 | 9.5 |
| Squirt | 2.85 | 9.5 |
| Hawaiian Fruit Punch | 2.82 | 10.2 |
| Orange Minute Maid Soda | 2.80 | 11.2 |
| Coke Classic | 2.53 | 9.3 |
| Pepsi | 2.49 | 9.8 |
| Battery Acid | 1.0 | 0.0 |
| *Laboratory tests, University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, 2000 **USDA: 4.2 grams = 1 tsp sugar |
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