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Comment by ip26 | Hacker News Reader

This has been popping up in the news periodically for a few years now. However, as a parent of young children, I'm still trying to figure out the next step. That is, what to feed them that is nutritious, tasty, and also works the jaw. Raw carrots and overcooked meat are not tolerated for long.

Even if I don't serve them mush, al dente pasta and tender-cooked meats are quite soft. Home-made jerky and artisan-style bread (with a really tough crust) are the best I've come up with so far.

I did have an insatiable desire to chew on gum for a year or so while a teenager. In retrospect I wonder if it was innate. Didn't save my wisdom teeth though.

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I don't know about cultural constraints, but as a kid, one my favorite parts of food was goat bone marrow. In South Asian goat curries, you add sliced-in-half bone. Getting the marrow out is a combination of sucking and biting and chewing, which helps a lot with Jaw strength.

Rare flank steak or tri-tip, cut along the grain. They will have to rip it by pulling. Healthier and tastier than overcooked meat.

A parent of a youngin' also, I am realizing there is balance needed. Technological prowess is part of the balance... we have orthodontic abilities to correct our teeth when tough food is lacking... and rub teeth with fluoride twice a day to help offset enamel breakdown.

Most of it can be tweaked with appliances, but the length of the lower jaw is important and I don't think we have an appliance for that yet.

An aligned bite helps keep your teeth straight, but you'll have trouble getting one if your lower jaw is too short.

I saw an interview[0] last week where the guest recommended biltong, or leaving bread to go slightly stale before serving it.

He also goes into some research on the effects that our diet changes are having on short-sightedness; slightly rambly, but very interesting interview.

[0]: https://www.instagram.com/p/CAm7u5UAv1K/ - don't mind the venue, it's just a comedian interviewing interesting people

> Raw carrots

Have you tried slathering them in an unhealthy amount of peanut butter (+extra salt, sans palm oil)? It's basically food crack on par with roasted Brussels sprouts. Heck, skip roasting the Brussels and serve those raw with peanut butter, too!

Chew toys.

Seriously - kids often chew on pens and other random household objects. Something less likely to make a mess/be gross or dangerous would seem preferable.

I agree! A great thing would be chew toys for kids. Probably a nice business. I mean, the core of this is that teeth are strengthened by exercise (and fluoride).

Huge benefits, and cheap in the long term.

Always been a side business I have been intrigued by, but never saw a way that I brought enough to this particular table to start it.

These exist. Mostly for autism and anxiety after teething.

Neat, why not get dentists to give to....everyone? It is a marketing problem, it seems like?

I mean fluoridated chew toys for kids that strengthen teeth and reduce future orthodontics costs seems like a good one?

Eh... must the toys contain fluoride? It's one thing to rinse and spit, but it's not as if consuming fluoride is free of side effects.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3956646/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3491930/

No... none of this is validated. Also orthodontists have tools to fix your palate while you are growing.

There's a budding new market for pacifiers with lights (for adults) that are used by ravers.[1]

[1] https://www.quora.com/Why-do-they-use-pacifiers-at-raves

Long term pacifier use actually causes teeth problems.

What's gum but a chew toy?

If you want it to also not rot teeth, don't put sugar in it.

If you want it to still taste like something, just put non-metabolizable sugars in it, like xylitol.

(There are already xylitol gums. Buy them for your kids today!)

Probably would have to be really tough gum. Early humans had more aligned teeth because they were chewing on connective tissue.

Have you chewed double bubble for any longer than 10s?

Having a 1.5yo, one of the unexpected joys has been seeing how their consumable options increase based on teeth being acquired.

I chewed on ice constantly as a kid, and I have super strong teeth. I would encourage your kids to crunch ice.

Rhubarb

Raw I presume?

Isn't it poisonous raw?

Just the leaves

Yeah. I finally tried out of curiosity. Very fun. Was disappointed I only had 4 stalks.

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