For between meal snacks, choose nutritious foods for your child to promote good dental and general health.

Plaque is a sticky, clear film that forms on our teeth every day. Plaque contains germs (bacteria) that stick to teeth. The sugar in food and drinks reacts with plaque to form an acid that eats away the hard outer layer (enamel). Over time, this acid will make a hole in the enamel creating a cavity or dental decay.

Eating healthy food is always a good choice for both dental health and general health.

• Choose nutritious, unsweetened snack foods.
• Read ingredients lists when choosing snacks. Molasses, honey, fructose, glucose and sucrose are all types of sugar.
• It is better to eat sweets at meal time and not as snacks. The increased saliva flow during a meal dilutes sugars and helps wash them away.
• Reduce the time that sweet food stays in contact with the teeth. Limit sugared drinks, chewing sugared gum or sucking on candy over long periods of time.
• After your child eats sweet, sticky foods, brush your child's teeth.
• When brushing is not possible, rinse the mouth with water or chew sugar-free gum.

• cheese fruit;
• muffins bagel and cheese;
• bread sticks pita bread with cheese;
• cottage cheese yogurt;
• nuts and seeds (for older children) half sandwich (cheese, egg, ham, salmon, tuna);
• pita bread with hummus unsweetened fruit juice;
• vegetables vegetable juice;
• milk hard boiled eggs.

Brushing and flossing every day helps prevent tooth decay !

Based on materials developed by the City of Ottawa, People Services Department

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