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Free Baseball Tickets!

Want free tickets to baseball games this summer? Union Pediatric Dentistry is a proud sponsor of the Florence Freedom Baseball team! We have four tickets available to our patients and their parents to each game on a first come, first served basis.

You must stop by the office to score your free tickets. Don’t delay!

Florence Freedom

This summer, we will be sponsoring two special nights at the ballpark.  Watch our Facebook page for more information, and come out to see Dr. Greenhill, Li'l Will, and our Union Pediatric Dentistry team!

It’s easy to monitor your child’s oral health when they are at home, but not so much when they are outside of your parental guidance.  When they are at school lunch, your child is exposed to an array of food options that aren’t very healthy for their teeth. To help parents, we’ve chosen some of our favorite mouth-healthy foods that you can pack in your kid’s lunch!

Cheese

Cheese is high in calcium, which promotes strong teeth. But the benefits of cheese don’t end there. It also contains a protein called casein which strengthens tooth enamel and helps to prevent cavities. Try adding a couple of slices of cheese to your child’s lunch every day to give them more calcium and casein. Or, you can buy them string cheese since it is a fun snack that kids love to eat!

Carrots

Carrots are full of fiber and vitamin A. As you eat carrots, they stimulate saliva production which helps prevent the buildup of bad bacteria that can lead to cavities. Carrots are a great handheld snack that can be taken anywhere – which makes them easy to pack in a lunch! We suggest packing a small baggie of baby carrots for your child’s lunch as a mouth-healthy substitute for chips. You can make this snack even tastier (and more kid-friendly) by packing it with a bit of yogurt-based dip!

Yogurt

Like cheese, yogurt is high in calcium and casein, but it also contains a high amount of healthy bacteria. The healthy bacteria in yogurt helps fight the bad bacteria that can stick to your teeth and lead to cavities. Look for yogurt that is non-fat, and has less sugar than some that contain fruit and other added flavors. We suggest packing it in your child’s lunch with a bag of fresh fruit and maybe a bit of granola, to make it more enjoyable.

Apples

Apples are high-fiber fruits, which naturally clean teeth as they’re being eaten! Apples scrub your teeth, gums and tongue as they’re being eaten because of their fibrous texture – particularly the skin. This helps fight plaque buildup, and helps remove surface stains from teeth. Apples also fight bad breath by removing traces of bad plaque and residue from the back of the tongue. We suggest adding apple slices into your child’s lunch as a dessert substitute. Keep the skin on the apple slices, so that your child gets all of the oral health benefits.

Encourage Your Child to Rinse after Lunch

If your child is able, ask that they swish clean water in their mouth for 30 seconds, and then spit into a sink immediately after lunch. This will help rinse away food debris that can lead to cavities and tooth decay.

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Proper diet is key for a healthy mouth, so it’s important that you pay attention to your child’s nutrition. To help fight cavities, limit the amount of sugar they consume, and feed them more mouth-friendly options. Also, be sure that they brush their teeth twice per day and floss once per day, to remove any food debris that can cause tooth decay. Schedule an appointment with our office if you would like to know more about a mouth healthy diet, and other ways that you can help fight cavities at home.

The animal kingdom is a fascinating place full of wonder and mystique! From caterpillars reforming their bodies within cocoons, to monkeys that dive for fish, animals are truly fantastic creatures. As interesting as animals are, their teeth are even more intriguing. Below are some of our favorite facts about animal teeth!

1 - Sharks lose A LOT of teeth. Sharks’ teeth are positioned in rows within their mouths, and as the rows move forward, new teeth push older ones out. They usually lose at least one tooth per week! At that rate, a human would be toothless in 32 weeks!

2 - Elephant tusks are actually a set of teeth that never stop growing! Some think that they are elongated canine teeth, but they’re actually extra long incisors.

3 - Giraffes and humans have the same amount of teeth – 32. However, giraffes have no upper front teeth, and most of their teeth are actually molars in the back of their mouths.

4 - Frogs have teeth, but toads do not. However, both amphibians swallow their food whole!

5 - Rabbits, squirrels and rodents have teeth that never stop growing, which is why they chew on tough foods like nuts, leaves and bark. It helps wear down their teeth and keep them from growing too long.

6 - Mosquitos actually have 47 teeth! They are so small that they cannot be seen without magnification.

7 - A lot of herbivorous animals like cows and sheep don’t have incisors. These animals use their lips to cut their food, and then process it normally.

8 - A horse’s teeth are massive and weigh more than its brain.

9 - Snails have over 25,000 microscopic teeth on their tongues!

10 - You can uncover a dolphin’s age by counting the rings in its teeth, much like you can determine the age of a tree!

Take Care of Your Teeth

Most animals take care of their teeth in some way or another, just like us! If your little critter is in need of a pediatric dentist, then visit our office. Our office is designed specifically to care for children, and address dental issues common in children. We will thoroughly evaluate your child’s smile and provide a treatment plan that improves their overall oral health.