Children’s dental health is a big commitment of ours, and one of the biggest ways to ensure your child’s teeth are healthy is to check what they’re putting in their mouths. Over the course of a day a child will eat all kinds of things, but just as important are the things that they drink. We’ll look at some of the drinks that you will want to avoid if you want your children to grow up with strong, healthy teeth.

First on the list is the big obvious one: soda. Carbonated drinks are a two-fer when it comes to tooth health. Not only does the incredibly sugary liquid stick to your teeth, feed sugar-hungry bacteria and tastes so good that you want to drink more (and punish your enamel while you’re at it), but it is also acidic, which wears down the enamel even faster. Diet soda does little to help this problem, and it’s not terribly likely your children are chomping at the bit for diet cola either. Energy drinks are in the same boat here, so while it should go without saying, don’t let your children drink those freely either. In either case, make sure they wash the remnants away with some water when they’re done with the soda drinking, to minimize the damage.

The next drinks we’ll be looking at the various fruit juices.There’s no denying the nutritional value of the Vitamin C carried in real fruit juice, but what you also can’t deny is the high sugar content of juice. 8 ounces of cola and 8 ounces of apple juice have nearly the same sugar content as each other, and they’re just as bad when it comes to acidity. Vitamin C is also known by the name ascorbic acid, so you cannot let your guard down when it comes to keeping your teeth safe from acids. Very important for parents of young children using bottles and sippy cups, if you let your child fall asleep with juice in their containers, there is a chance they can develop baby bottle tooth decay. Try to avoid this as much as you can, and make sure they have water in there instead.

It’s become more common knowledge, but for a long time, parents did not know that sports drinks like Powerade and Gatorade were not healthy for normal child consumption. These drinks are designed with atheletes in mind, and contain large amounts of sugar and electrolytes to keep their consumer’s activity level going high. While it does have its uses for helping sick children, normally children simply don’t need that much in sugar and nutrient replacement. And all that extra sugar is going to wreak havoc on their teeth and feed all of the hungry cavity-making bacteria on their teeth. If they’re feeling bad, your children are less likely to brush well, too.

Even carbonated waters like Perrier or La Croix have their problems. Fizzy waters get their carbonation from carbonic acid, just like sodas. So while it might be sugar free, it can still harm your child’s teeth if they drink this too often.