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There’s nothing like a glass of milk to get you ready for bed. Milk is a healthful, sedative beverage that children can drink before bed to help them prepare for another great day.
However, drinking milk before bedtime may damage your child’s teeth in the long run.
In this article, we’ll discuss the advantages of drinking milk before night, as well as some of the drawbacks.
Following that, we’ll discuss how to reduce these drawbacks so that your children can continue to enjoy their night time beverage.
Milk Consumption Prior to Sleep
Milk is a nutritious, natural beverage that provides essential nutrients to your child’s growing body. It’s high in calcium, with a single cup delivering roughly 300 mg.
Milk is also a good source of carbohydrates, lipids, and protein, with slow-digesting casein proteins providing the building blocks for your child’s body as they sleep.
Milk contains chemicals like melatonin and tryptophan, which provide additional health benefits.
Melatonin is a naturally occurring hormone that governs sleep cycles, whereas tryptophan is an essential amino acid in the creation of serotonin.
This is a neurotransmitter that has a calming and relaxing impact.
Milk can also be used as a relaxing ritual for youngsters as they get ready for bed.
So, with such a long list of advantages, what’s not to like about milk?
Is There Any Risk?
It’s vital to realize that the amount of harm caused by drinking a glass of milk before night varies depending on whether you consume it before or after you clean your teeth.
Why? Milk, on the other hand, includes lactose, a sugar that gives milk its distinct flavor.
If you drink milk after brushing your teeth for the night, though, you’re leaving the milk residue to sit on the interior surfaces of your mouth.
A natural quantity of germs exists in every human mouth, which you can keep under control by brushing and flossing.
Sugars and other food remnants in your mouth nourish these bacteria, especially while you sleep.
Bacteria feed on the milk sugars that linger in your mouth, which can grow and cause cavities and tooth damage.
Bacteria, especially if your child has baby teeth, can create acids that destroy tooth enamel.
On your child’s teeth, dental plaque, a mixture of germs, food residue, and saliva, can form. Gum disease can develop as a result of plaque accumulation over time.
So, what are your options?
Before brushing your teeth during the night, drink your milk.
The easiest method to get the most out of a glass of milk at night and your oral hygiene regimen is to avoid eating or drinking anything after brushing your teeth.
This permits you to clean your mouth of all food and bacterial residue before going to bed.
Please contact us if you have any other questions regarding how milk affects your child’s oral health.
