WEDNESDAY, Feb. 15, 2023 (HealthDay Information) — Raiding the cookie jar or sweet dish at grandma’s home could also be a deal with, however it will probably additionally assist break youngsters’s enamel.

And a brand new survey discovered greater than two-thirds of moms reporting that their children’ grandparents gave children sugary meals and drinks, with no limits on consumption.

“I’ve many glad reminiscences of raiding the sweet jar at my very own grandparents’ home and, as a guardian, I’ve hesitated with a few of these talks myself,” mentioned American Dental Affiliation (ADA) spokesperson Dr. Genaro Romo, a Chicago-based dentist.

“But, cavities are the commonest continual childhood illness and may trigger undue ache, in addition to points with talking, consuming, enjoying and studying,” Romo mentioned in an affiliation information launch.

Within the examine, researchers led by Dr. Jacqueline Burgette, from the College of Pittsburgh’s Faculty of Dental Drugs, adopted 126 individuals for 2 years.

Whereas 72% of mothers mentioned grandparents feed their children sugary meals, solely 51% mentioned they’d addressed the problem with the grandparents. Causes included how continuously grandparents and kids interacted, the mom’s dependency on grandparents for baby care, the amount of sugary meals and drinks offered by grandparents and the energy of the connection between moms and their youngsters’s grandparents.

The findings have been printed not too long ago within the Journal of the American Dental Affiliation.

In January, a separate ADA survey of greater than 1,000 dad and mom of youngsters 17 and youthful discovered that 68% believed their youngsters consumed extra sugary meals and drinks at their grandparents’ home than at dwelling.

Of these, about 73% mentioned they might handle the problem with their very own dad and mom, however not with their associate’s dad and mom. Solely 43% mentioned they might handle the problem with their associate’s dad and mom.

“There’s nothing sweeter than the connection between youngsters and grandparents,” ADA spokesperson and pediatric dentist Dr. Mary Hayes mentioned within the launch.

“Have the ‘treats carefully’ dialog, encourage water or milk versus juice or soda, and if providing a deal with, go for plain chocolate as a result of saliva washes it out of the mouth extra simply than sticky or onerous candies,” Hayes suggested.

The ADA supplied some extra dental well being ideas:

  • Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste.
  • Use a smear of toothpaste the scale of a grain of rice for youngsters youthful than age 3. After that, use a pea-size drop.
  • Floss or use one other dental cleaner to get between enamel every day.
  • See a dentist repeatedly, beginning with the primary tooth or at the least by the kid’s first birthday.

Extra data

The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention has extra on youngsters’s dental well being.

 

SOURCE: American Dental Affiliation, information launch, Feb. 13, 2023