Six tips to protect your children’s teeth this Halloween

Six tips to protect your children’s teeth this Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner. It’s a time for young witches, wizards, ghosts and monsters to embark on the annual tradition of knocking on doors and collecting sweets.

However, given the amount of sweets and chocolate that kids get at Halloween, it’s normal for parents to feel anxious about their children’s health.

We certainly don’t want to spoil the fun of Halloween and forbid children from going out and trick-or-treating. After all, Halloween is something that many children look forward to throughout the year. That said, there are a few simple things you can do to minimize the damage to your children’s teeth while still allowing them to take part in the fun. Keep reading to find out what they are.

1. Choose the right kind of sweets

Not all sweets are equal – some sweets are worse for our teeth than others. For example, sticky sweets, like gummy bears, tend to get stuck to teeth very easily. This increases the risk of cavities. For this reason, it’s best to avoid eating sticky sweets.

It’s also best to avoid sweets that stay in your mouth for a long time. Gobstoppers are an example. The longer a sweet stays inside your mouth, the more time it has to do damage to your teeth. Therefore, choose sweets that are quick to eat instead.

2. Don’t let your children snack on sweets

Some parents put all the sweets in a big bowl and let the children snack freely. However, snacking on sweets throughout the day and night is a bad idea. This is because it increases the amount of time that your teeth are exposed to sugar. For this reason, it’s best to let your children eat sweets after meals instead, as a dessert. Not only does this limit the amount of occasions for eating sweets, but there is also the added protection from the saliva produced during the meal. Saliva helps to neutralize acids and protect your teeth.

3. Give some of the sweets away

Once trick-or-treating is over, the question is, what do you do with all the sweets? One option is to give some away to friends or family members. Some dentists have even been known to offer a take-back program for sweets.

4. Provide your children with plenty of water

Water is great for your teeth because it neutralizes acidity and creates a hostile environment for bacteria. For these reasons, make sure your children have plenty of water available when they are eating their sweets.

5. Chew gum

Gum is a great thing to chew on after eating sweets. This is because chewing gum promotes the production of saliva in your mouth.

6. Make sure your children brush their teeth before going to bed

With all the excitement of Halloween, it can be easy to forget the day-to-day tasks like brushing your teeth. However, on Halloween, it’s more important to brush your teeth than ever, to protect your teeth from all the sweets.

That’s it from us this month. We hope you have a great Halloween!

Posted in: Dental tips

Leave a Comment (0) ↓

Leave a Comment