Vitamins

If you are a product of the 80's like me, you will probably remember taking Flintstones vitamins. Those delicious "vitamin candies" that our mom's actually encouraged us to take? Now if you peruse the vitamin aisle you are inundated with children's (and even adult's) Gummy Vitamins. 

A recent article by Sally Kuzemchak, MS, RD in Parents Magazine discusses the disadvantages of children's multivitamins in gummy form. 

From the perspective of a busy mom of toddlers, the idea of providing essential vitamins as a fun, yummy treat sounds like a win/win. From the perspective of a dentist, however, giving those gummy "treats" to your child is actually a loss to their teeth! To make these gummies delicious, they often have up to a teaspoon of sugar added. On top of all that sugar, they stick to teeth and are difficult to brush off. And what does that spell? C-A-V-I-T-I-E-S!

But what if they brush after they get their vitamins?

This is a question I often get, and the truth is, you are likely not getting all of the gummy off. Sticky foods adhere to surfaces of the tooth that you can't see, like in between teeth or in grooves. That is not only difficult to remove, but the added sugar causes spit to become more acidic and weakens enamel. 

So what do you do for a child who is a picky eater or just needs vitamins? Find a multivitamin in a chewable tablet form. The best news is that you can still get those trusty Flintstones vitamins you took as a kid!