Of course, if you have a child, you likely do all you can to keep them in great health. Along with taking them to their pediatrician to monitor their overall health, you likely also take great care to protect their oral health. However, you may not realize that you and/or your child have bad habits that are affecting your child's oral health.

Read on to learn about two little-known ways you and your child's everyday habits may be harming your child's teeth.

1. Feeding Your Young Child Fruit Juice

Since fruit is such a healthy snack, many parents believe that fruit juice is also very healthy for their children. However, that is not the case. Medical professionals now advise that parents avoid feeding their children under one year of age any fruit juice.

Fruit juice is filled with sugar that is bad for not only your child's overall health, but also their dental health. Dental professionals believe that fruit juice is the number one cause of dental erosion in young children, and simple elimination of this seemingly healthy beverage can improve your child's dental health tremendously.

If you must feed your young child fruit juice, then do not provide it to them in a sippy cup or bottle. This promotes slow sipping of the beverage over long periods of time that keeps the sugar and acids in the juice in contact with your child's teeth much longer than they have to be. Instead, feed them a small portion and watch them drink it relatively quickly. This will limit the damage juice can inflict on your child's teeth.

2. Mouth Breathing

Every child may resort to breathing out of their mouth instead of their nose from time to time when they have a bad cold or stuffed up nose. However, if your child breathes out of their mouth on a regular basis, realize that this is a problem that needs to be corrected to protect your child's dental health and the healthy development of their face.

Mouth breathing can lead to your child's mouth becoming very dry, and chronic dry mouth can make your child prone to cavities. In addition, mouth breathing at night can lead to your child's mouth becoming very acidic, which can also increase the chance of them developing tooth decay.

Also, mouth breathing as a child can lead to the development of a long, narrow face; a weak chin; less defined cheekbones; and other facial deformities.

While some children may simply breathe out of their mouths as habit, others have chronic sinus problems that lead to mouth breathing due to difficulty breathing out of their noses. Speak to your dentist and pediatrician about your child's mouth breathing problem to learn what is causing it and how it can be corrected to help prevent the dental and facial development issues associated with it.

You likely take great care to ensure that your child brushes their teeth several times each day, flosses, and visits their pediatric dentist on a regular basis. However, be aware of these two little-known ways your child's everyday habits may be harming their teeth. Contact a clinic, like Kemper, William E, for more help.

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