We have been told our whole lives, just how important it is to drink water every day! Hydration is vital to good overall health. It is also vital for good oral health too! Surprisingly, many people don't realize how important water is to our oral health, especially for our pediatric dental patients. As a mother herself, Dr. Casey knows just how challenging it can be to get kids to stay hydrated at times. However, it doesn't negate the importance hydration places in maintaining our children's health. Here are some of the reasons hydration is so important and some tips to keep your whole family hydrated!
The Type of Hydration Matters
Not all drinks are healthy sources of hydration. In fact, some drinks including teas and sodas can increase dehydration for those consuming them! This is one of the reasons it is so important to ensure you're children have access to healthy hydration sources, such as good old fashion water. Certain juices, with low sugar content, are healthy in small servings. However, water should always be our main source of hydration.
Pedialyte can be a good short-term solution to improving your child's hydration. However, Pedialyte and other "hydrating drinks," such as Gatorade, are usually packed with sugar! The amount of sugar some of these products contain outweighs the "health benefits" of their hydrating abilities. This is why we recommend water as a first choice. If your child does better with some servings having sugar-free flavorings, we suggest you are just mindful that they do get plain water throughout the day as well. Also, plain water should always be what your family uses to brush their teeth with!
Dry Mouth & Its Negative Effects
One of the most common side effects of dehydration is dry mouth. It is also one of the most detrimental side effects of consistently having issues maintaining hydration. Dry mouth, also known as xerostomia (ZEER-oh-STOH-mee-ah), is a condition when someone does not have enough saliva to keep their mouth moist. Dry mouth can occasionally happen to anyone (including children), especially when experiencing nervousness or stress. However, it is when dry mouth persists that it can make chewing, swallowing, and even talking difficult for someone. Dry mouth can also increase a person's risk for tooth decay as well as fungal infections in the mouth. This is because saliva helps maintain a healthy balance of germs in our mouths. It also plays a huge part in making sure our mouths are moist enough.
There are several possible causes of dry mouth amongst children:
- General dehydration. Dehydration can be caused by lack of hydration over time, athletic activities, heat exposure, the dryness of the air, certain foods, some medications, and a variety of other determining factors.
- Side effects of certain medicines. There are literally hundreds of medications (prescription and over-the-counter) that can cause the salivary glands to make less saliva. This includes medicine for children too! We recommend that parents look into the side effects of all medications before they administer them to their children.
- Disease or illness. There are several diseases and illnesses that include "dry mouth" as a symptom, with diabetes being one. For some illnesses, it can also be a secondary symptom as well.
- Radiation and Chemotherapy. There is a risk of a patient's salivary glands being damaged if exposed to radiation during radio-based cancer treatment. Chemotherapy drugs that are used to treat cancer can also make a patient's saliva thicker, causing their mouth to feel drier than normal.
- Damage to Nerves. Some head or neck injuries can cause damage to the nerves that tell the salivary glands to make saliva. This can cause dry mouth due to consequentially lower saliva production.
According to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, some of the symptoms of dry mouth include a sticky, dry feeling in the mouth, a dry feeling in the throat, cracked lips, a (dry) rough tongue, mouth sores, an infection in the mouth and also bad breath. Severe dry mouth is also known to cause issues with chewing, swallowing, tasting, or even speaking. In severe cases, it can even cause a burning feeling in a patient's mouth.
Dehydration is something that can happen to anyone, children are no exception. They also often rely on adults to satisfy their needs related to food and water, this means parents, guardians, schools, and child care facilities are responsible for ensuring a child's hydration needs are met.
Saliva's Natural Cleaning Abilities
Saliva, also called "spit," is produced by our salivary glands and is very important for maintaining good, lifelong oral health. Saliva moistens and even starts to break down food as your child eats. It even continues to wash away food particles and debris from their teeth and gums long after they have stopped eating. It also plays an important role in helping people with swallowing their food.
Based on studies done by the American Dental Association (ADA), saliva plays a significant role in helping maintain our oral health. Saliva is actually derived from our blood and in many ways acts as the bloodstream of our mouths. Similar to how blood acts, saliva has a role in helping build and maintain the health of the soft and hard tissues in your child's mouth. Saliva also provides and distributes disease-fighting substances throughout their mouth as well. These substances are known to help prevent cavities and other infections. They also aid in keeping the surface of their teeth strong by increasing the levels of calcium, fluoride, and phosphate ions at the surface of the teeth.
In addition, the reduction of saliva flow can lead to an increased risk of oral health problems, such as tooth decay and other oral infections. The physical act of chewing is the most efficient way to stimulate heavier salivary flow. This movement causes our muscles to compress the salivary glands, which in turn releases more saliva. Crunchy snacks like celery are a yummy and healthy way to get your kids chewing a bit more!
Hydration and Overal Health
According to Harvard's School of Public Health, making sure that we drink enough water each day is crucial for maintaining our overall health for a variety of reasons! Some of these reasons include the ability to effectively regulate body temperature, keep our joints lubricated, prevent developing infections, deliver nutrients to our cells, and aid in keeping our organs functioning properly. They also state that being well-hydrated improves someone's sleep quality, mental cognition, and overall mood.
Doctors typically recommend that adult women drink roughly 11 cups of water per day and that men drink about 16 cups. For children, the recommendation ranges from 6-10 cups depending on their size and activity levels. Children and adults participating in sports or athletic exercise of any kind should be increasing their water consumption to compensate for these physical activities.
Of course, for most individuals, not all of those cups will come from plain water. For example, some can come from water flavored with products like Mios or fresh fruits and vegetables like fresh lemons, berries, or orange or cucumber slices. Some other popular sources are drinks such as fruit juice, coffee, or tea. Typically, we recommend a combination for children, with a majority of their hydration source being water. (For babies, you should consult directly with your family's Pediatrician about what dietary resources are ideal for your infant and their unique needs.)
Hydration Tips for Parents
Convincing your children to drink water can be a challenge for some parents, especially when their children would prefer drinks like soda, juice (beyond what is recommended), and artificially flavored drinks that are high in sugar. The truth is that all of those drinks "taste better" than water. However, water is still the healthiest hydration option for all of us, even adults. So developing the habit of drinking water regularly, particularly at a young age, is vital for maintaining good hydration for life.
Here are a few tips that Dr. Casey has put together to help your family stay hydrated, regardless of how busy you are or how affordable your budget might be.
- Make water readily available at all times! The easiest way to get kids to drink more water is to have it readily available, especially "the way they prefer it." If they like it at room temperature, serve it at room temp! If they like it chilled, serve it chilled. We are a fan of pitcher and gallon (or more) water filters, it doesn't matter if you chose one that fits in the fridge or sits on the counter. Some families have a water filter installed directly into their sink, faucet, or even their fridge door to make it easy to just pull from the tap! Regardless of how your family gets their water, having it around is vital to ensuring everyone is staying hydrated.
- Limit the availability of sugar-filled drinks. There is nothing wrong with consuming these drinks in moderation. Despite being sources of hydration, your child's risk of developing cavities increases significantly with habitual consumption of sugary drinks such as carbonated sodas, artificially flavored sweet drinks, and sugar-filled fruit juices (beyond 1-2 servings per day).
- Take physical activities into consideration. When your child plays sports or is generally active, you have to consider more than just the more intense, athletic-related oral injuries. One common issue active individuals can face is making sure they are consuming enough water consistently! If you've got a child that's always on the move, be sure they are drinking an adequate amount of water. That goes for active adults too! The more active your family is, the more water you should all be drinking.
- Kids need extra hydration when sick! As a mom, Dr. Casey knows when children are sick it can be hard to convince them to do anything, even if it's going to help them! Sometimes consuming liquids of any form can be a struggle for them (and their parents trying to help them). We recommend in these moments offering the drinks they can stomach until you can get them back to their usual food and drink habits. For children experiencing nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea we recommend considering sugar-free Pedialyte or similar alternatives (as long as they are age-appropriate).
- Add "hydrating," mouth-healthy meals to the menu. Having soup for dinner is an easy way to add a little extra hydration to the menu. Yet, there are a bunch of healthy, fresh foods that help with hydration too! According to the Cleveland Clinic, these mouth-healthy foods include cucumber, iceberg lettuce, celery, zucchini, watermelons, strawberries, and even cauliflower. You can also increase the hydration capacity of some meals through the addition of sauces as well.
Every child is different and so is each family. Not everything will work for everyone. This is why we believe it's important to figure out what works best based on your family's unique needs. When it comes to oral health, being proactive can save families a lot of hassle and money over time. Hydration is one of the simple ways to set your family up for good, oral and overall health. If your children battle you with consuming "plain water," we recommend getting a little creative if you have to! There are a lot of sugar-free options out there or even elevating their water with fresh fruit.
From illness to medication to participating in sports without proper hydration, the potential causes range in variety. If you think your child may be suffering from dry mouth, contact your pediatric dental office, we can figure out the cause and how to treat it! There's no doubt that hydration is important, especially when you consider that humans are made up of about 80% water. This is why developing positive hydration habits at an early age is so vital for our children! If you are looking for more oral health or hydration tips for your family, check out Dr. Casey's articles, or feel free to reach out. We are always available to assist our patients and their families.
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