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With kids around the country returning to school, now is the perfect time to kick off the school year with some good dental habits for your children. Here are some tips to make sure your kids’ teeth are happy and healthy.

Combining a Mediterranean diet with alkaline water appears to be as effective as protein pump inhibitor (PPI) therapy for treating laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR), according to a retrospective study.

“I think these findings strongly suggest that if LPR is suspected as the cause of a patient’s symptoms, then a plant-based diet, alkaline water, and standard reflux precautions should at least be strongly encouraged prior to taking a PPI (or any drug for reflux),” Dr. Craig H. Zalvan from New York Medical College, in Valhalla, told Reuters Health by email.

A mostly vegetarian diet may provide relief similar to widely used medications for people with acid reflux, a new study suggests. The study looked at close to 200 patients at one medical center who had been diagnosed with laryngopharyngeal reflux..

NYMC Faculty: Craig H. Zalvan, M.D., associate professor of clinical otolaryngology

Consumption of a plant-based diet and filtered water can effectively treat a common medical condition characterized by the backflow of stomach acids into the upper airway and throat, eliminating the need for medications, physicians at The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have found.

NYMC Faculty: Craig H. Zalvan, M.D., associate professor of clinical otolaryngology

Researchers compared the effects of a Mediterranean diet and traditional medication on people who have been diagnosed with laryngopharyngeal reflux. The Mediterranean diet showed promising results in reducing symptoms of the condition.

NYMC Faculty: Craig H. Zalvan, M.D., associate professor of clinical otolaryngology

Twenty years ago, Congress made a commitment to its children when it created the Children’s Health Insurance Program, recognizing working parents who earned too much to qualify for Medicaid still couldn’t afford health insurance for their kids. As medical students in Boston and New York City, we remember vividly the impact on care when children didn’t have insurance. Pediatric emergency rooms were filled with children who needed routine school physicals because they didn’t have regular doctors. Parents waited for hours for routine complaints. Our children’s hospitals were often filled with kids with asthma simply because they couldn’t get their medication from lack of health insurance. It was the worst way to provide health care.

NYMC Faculty: Shetal I. Shah, M.D., professor of pediatrics and Heather L. Brumberg, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of pediatrics

Reflux is one of the most common health complaints among Americans, and the drugs used to relieve it are among the nation's best-selling meds. Americans spend nearly $13 billion a year on both prescription and over-the-counter versions of proton pump inhibitors (PPI), the most popular anti-reflux medications. The type of reflux in the study, called laryngopharyngeal reflux. or LPR, is concentrated in the upper part of the digestive tract and is triggered when pepsin, a digestive enzyme from the stomach, reaches the sensitive tissues there. That can damage tissues and cause symptoms like throat clearing, a feeling that something is lodged in the throat, hoarseness and trouble swallowing. “You’re not supposed to have acid up in the throat,” says Dr. Craig Zalvan, medical director of the institute for voice and swallowing disorders at Phelps Hospital of Northwell Health in New York and lead author of the study. “The tissues there have poor protection against acid and pepsin.”

NYMC Faculty: Craig H. Zalvan, M.D., associate professor of clinical otolaryngology

1. Avoid anything sticky when packing your children’s lunch. While raisins and gummy "fruit snacks" might seem like a healthy option, these sugary foods will stay stuck to the teeth for unnecessarily long periods of time and can lead to cavities.
2. Encourage the use of a straw when drinking fruit juice or a soda. This minimizes sugary or acidic liquid coming in contact with teeth.
3. Limit snacks. When it comes to snacking, it’s not just about the kind of snack, but the frequency. One large snack is preferable to multiple small snacks throughout the day because it limits instances of acidic erosion.
4. Invest in a mouth guard to help prevent oral injuries if your child is on a sports team. While getting a custom-fit mouth guard is ideal, a store bought mouth guard is better than nothing, especially for elementary and middle school kids whose teeth may still be changing.
5. Brush twice a day—morning and night. It’s always recommended. Parents of children who are younger than 7 should help their kids brush—they have not yet developed the dexterity to adequately brush their teeth themselves.
6. Schedule checkups. Always remember to see a dentist for checkups and cleanings every six months so problems can be dealt with when they're small—or, better yet, avoid dental problems all together!

Reflux is one of the most common health complaints among Americans, and the drugs used to relieve it are among the nation's best-selling meds. Americans spend nearly $13 billion a year on both prescription and over-the-counter versions of proton pump inhibitors (PPI), the most popular anti-reflux medications. But it turns out that drugs aren't necessary for some forms of the digestive condition. In a new study published in JAMA Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, researchers found that for people with acid reflux that affects the throat, a Mediterranean diet—one rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes—was just as effective as PPIs in treating their symptoms.