Avoiding Cavities This Halloween

As parents, we don’t want to spoil our children’s fun, and if the truth be known, we probably wish we had an excuse to take part too. As guardians of our children’s health though, it is right that we should be concerned amount the likely amount of sugar that will be concerned and in particular, the damage that it can do to their teeth.

In today’s Tower Dental Blog, we take a look at some of the ways that you can make Halloween more tooth friendly for your kids, without spoiling their fun!

Educate and encourage

To some degree, this will depend on the age of your children. A few quiet words about how sugar is harmful for your teeth might help them to understand why they shouldn’t over indulge. Encourage them to be moderate in what they collect and, more specifically, eat. This may not work but it is a good place to start.

Eat Candy With (Or Shortly After) A Meal

During mealtime, your saliva production increases and helps rinse away food particles and sugar in your mouth. Saliva plays an essential role in neutralizing the harmful acids in your mouth that cause cavities. Eating candy with or shortly after a meal can lower the likelihood of sugar clinging to your teeth and eroding enamel. You should also avoid snacking all day to minimize the amount of exposure sugar has to your teeth.

Be Picky About Your Treats

Stay away from hard candy and sticky sweets because they can cling to your teeth. The stickier a candy is, the longer it will take to get washed away by saliva, meaning your risk of tooth decay is higher. Also, hard candies can lead to a broken or cracked tooth if you’re not careful. Instead, opt for chocolate and sugarless gum whenever possible! They’re the best choices for your smile because they’re easier to consume and wash off your teeth. Or why not get creative and make your own scary treats like shown in our picture? They’re super easy and way healthier!

 

Offer ‘swaps’

There is perhaps little chance of not allowing them any sweets at all. Children though are often quite open to ‘bribes’ and this can be a good way to reduce their sweet intake. Offer to take some of the sweets from them in return for other little treats such as a trip to the cinema, a book or whatever their current passion is. This can be quite a successful approach.

 Binge or spread out the treats?

We have all told our kids to ‘stop eating those now and put them away’. This is understandable but in some ways, it is better to let them eat sweets all in one go (aside from the likely tummy aches) than it is to let them have a few sweets at regular intervals. This latter approach means that the mouth never has a chance to wash the sugars away before being bombarded with even more. Make sure that they have lengthy intervals in between eating their ‘stash’ of sweets.

Drink water

With sweet eating usually comes thirst. Make sure that they don’t add to their sugar intake with fizzy drinks. These are usually also very acidic and can damage the tooth enamel, increasing the chances of tooth decay even more. Take this opportunity to insist that, if they eat sweets, they must drink water. Not only will this dilute the sugars but also wash them away and help to prevent a build up of potentially harmful bacteria which feed off the sugars that we eat, and which can lead to gum disease.

Supervise brushing their teeth

At the end of a long Halloween night, there is every chance that your child will be hyperactive from the excitement (and quite likely the sugar too) and also very tired. The last thing they are likely to want to do is to spend much time, if any, cleaning their teeth. Don’t give them the opportunity to skip this and even if you don’t usually do this, watch over them when they brush their teeth before bed, making sure that they do it correctly and for at least two minutes of actual brushing, not including any talking in between!. Also make sure that they eat or drink nothing between this and going to bed with the exception of water. If you can do this, you will at least know that they have gone to bed with their teeth protected as best as you can.

All of us at Tower Dental hope you have a happy (and a little scary) Halloween and remind you that we are here to help in the event that any dental issues arise from this or for any other oral health issues. You can make an appointment for your children, or for yourself, by calling our Balwyn dental clinic on (03) 9817 7144.