Are your children big fans of Halloween?
From dressing up in a silly or scary costume to going door to door to stockpile on candy, what’s not to love?
While Halloween may seem like all fun and games, it can wreak havoc on your child’s oral hygiene due to the increase in candy consumption! Taking precautions to maintain your child’s healthy smile should be at the top of your to-do list, and Bridge Creek Dental wants to offer our support in doing so.
To help you get through the spooky season with your child’s pearly whites in good condition, we’ve put together a list of six tips to keep their teeth healthy:
1. Avoid sticky candy
Although most candy is relatively sticky, some candies are much stickier than others. If your child happens to grab a lot of sour gummies, caramel apples, caramels, gummy bears, or other gummy candies, you should limit their consumption.
Sticky candy sticks to the surface of the teeth, and if it isn’t cleared off in a timely fashion, it can lead to tooth decay and cavities. If you can’t prevent your children from eating sticky candy, make sure they floss and brush right after eating it to prevent the buildup of bacteria in their mouths.
2. Drink water
When eating sticky and sweet candy, it is a great idea to increase your water intake. Not only does drinking water have plenty of health benefits for your body, but it is also great at helping your teeth and mouth be healthy as well.
Drinking water helps to flush out the sugar that gets stuck to and in between your teeth. This will help to rid your mouth of the bacteria that can lead to tooth decay.
3. Limit consumption
We know that it can be tempting to eat multiple pieces of candy in one night. Not only will this give your children a sugar rush that keeps them bouncing off the walls for hours, but allowing them to eat as much candy as they want, whenever they want, increases the risk of cavities.
Instead, place boundaries on your children’s candy consumption, allowing them to eat a few pieces of candy as a treat after meals.
4. Limit long-lasting candies
If your child’s candy stash has a lot of hard candy or lollipops amongst it, we recommend limiting how often they eat these treats. When the candy stays in their mouth and dissolves over an extended period, the sugar and stickiness of the candy have more time to coat their healthy pearly whites.
As a result, bacteria can build up and turn into acid that begins breaking down the teeth and causing tooth decay.
5. Eat candy with meals
Instead of eating candy whenever your kids want to throughout the day, save them for after meals. Not only does this help to limit their consumption which we mentioned above, but it is the best time to consume it!
Right after eating a meal, you will experience an increased saliva production in your mouth to help naturally rinse away food particles and bacteria that may be present. By enjoying your candy while there is extra saliva in the mouth, it will be easier for the mouth to naturally flush out the sugars that cause bacteria.
6. Brush and floss after eating
Most importantly, you should have your children floss and brush their teeth soon after eating candy. This is going to be the best preventative measure you can take to avoid getting cavities and retaining a beautiful, white smile by removing the harmful bacteria from your mouth.
Call Bridge Creek Dental for preventative dental care
Following Halloween’s candy season, it is a good idea to schedule a preventative dental care visit for your children to ensure no damage was done. During the dental cleaning, the team at Bridge Creek Dental can find small problems before they turn into major health concerns such as gum disease and tooth loss.
Instead of letting any oral hygiene issues fester, our top-rated preventative dental care helps you maintain a beautiful, clean smile.
Here at Bridge Creek Dental, we specialize in providing preventive dental care for your entire family. If you or your loved ones are experiencing dental issues, give our team a call to schedule an appointment in Billings, MT.