Do you care that dried fruit is bad for teeth?

[Plarka]

I stopped giving my 3 year old and 13 month old dried fruit because I realised it's really bad for teeth, ie really concentrated sugar and sticky.  It says on the British Dental Health Organisation website to limit how much you give to kids.

I said this in reply to a thread in another forum, and quoted the dental health people, where someone was asking if it's bad to give it to kids and how much should they have, and so far there are all these people saying things like, 'well if we listened to every health warning we would never leave the house or eat or drink,' and 'If you listen to all that kind of stuff constantly it's simply too limiting. Pretty much everything in existence comes with health warnings these days. A little common sense can go a really long way.' 

People on that forum are usually really health conscious and I'm so disappointed in their replies! 

Doesn't anyone else care about listening to dental advise?  Maybe I'm really into it because I have two really bad toothaches, I'm in the middle of getting root canals  and the work is lasting months and I go there like every couple weeks these days, so it's always on my mind!

[newmum35]

I do care about that. For the most part I have rarely given my son dried fruits (hes almost 3.5) or juice.  Aside from a tooth he chipped at the playground he has no dental issues that Im aware of.  I didnt really avoid rasins because of being bad for teeth, but because of choking hazards.  We've started eating raisin bran recently and I noticed that even after he finishes his meal I can see little dark specks stuck to his teeth in the grooves of his molars much later.  So I've started thinking the raisins are not such a good idea after all and going back to regular wheaties etc, OR just brushing the teeth afterwards, or, eating an apple or something else to clean the teeth etc.  But Ive definitely given this some thought recently and certainly do care. I'll try hard so he doenst end up like me with a mouthful of dental problems when he gets older! It seems once they fill that little cavity its just a matter of time before they want to drill more and more and eventually its a crown, or worse. I know exactly what you mean about those people who give that reply. I've heard it myself and to some extent it is true, you do have to think for yourself and not blindlessly follow every piece of advice the "experts" come up with. It could be an occasional treat.. Maybe if they have something afterwards to clean the teeth (apple or other foods?) it wont be like they are stuck to the teeth for very long.

[staceychev]

I nixed the dried fruit pretty much completely after my 5YO had six cavities. DH and I still eat raisins or cranberries in our nut mixes, but we're grownups who can be trusted to brush our teeth thoroughly. DD is off dried fruit until she, too, can be trusted to be thorough. (And yes, I do still brush her teeth myself anyway...)