Halloween is one of the most popular holidays of the year, but it’s also a time when parents and other caregivers need to be extremely careful about the extra sugar that their children are enjoying. Those delicious treats could play a nasty trick on your little one’s pearly whites by eventually causing tooth decay and other oral healthy problems. To keep the Halloween season happy, your dentist recommends following these 5 steps to protect your children from cavities.
1. Learn Which Treats are Tooth-Friendly
Sticky candies like caramels or fruit snacks can often become attached to the teeth, and hard candies like jawbreakers stay in your mouth for a long time. This gives oral bacteria more opportunities to feed on sugar, which lets them produce acid that eats through the enamel and forms cavities. On the other hand, candy that quickly leaves the mouth (like chocolate) tends to do less damage. Take the time to learn which treats you need to worry about the most.
2. Screen Your Child’s Candy
Once trick-or-treating is done, sort through your child’s Halloween candy. Remove any particularly harmful treats while letting them keep the rest; it might help to offer some kind of reward in exchange. Look for a charity or a buyback program in your area that you can give the candy to.
3. Encourage Moderation
Despite what you may think, it’s not eating too much sugar that hurts your teeth; it’s the prolonged exposure that really puts them at risk. In other words, consuming a lot of sugar at once is worse for your oral healthy than spreading it out over a longer period of time. Don’t let your children eat their candy on a daily basis, and especially don’t allow them to snack on their Halloween stash throughout the day. Microwave popcorn and cheese sticks make for great alternatives if they really need something to munch on.
4. Time Candy Consumption Carefully
The best time for your children to eat candy is when there’s plenty of saliva in their mouths to help wash away the sugar. This usually means after meals, so try to reserve Halloween treats for after-dinner dessert.
5. Encourage Good Brushing Habits
Your child should be brushing their teeth twice a day, especially if they’ve been eating their treat. It’s especially important to brush right before going to bed (since the mouth produces less cleansing saliva while you’re asleep). Make sure they use a fluoride toothpaste that can help fight cavities.
If you follow these steps, you should be able to avoid an emergency visit to your children’s dentist. As long as you’re taking the right precautions, there’s no reason for your little ones to miss out on the Halloween festivities!
About the Practice
At Fromuth & Langlois Dental, we’ll give every member of your family the personalized one-on-one preventive care they need to protect their smiles from tooth decay and gum disease. For our youngest patients, we’re happy to offer dental sealants to give their molars a little extra protection against cavities. To schedule an appointment at our practice in Machester, NH, visit our website or call (603) 644-3368.