5 Ways To Scare Away Cavities This Halloween
Say “Boo” to cavities!
Halloween is a fun time of year, where you can choose to dress up as a fun character and go trick-or-treating to get some candy. However, it can be easy to go overboard on all those sweet treats, which is why Maryville’s Compass Dental Group wants to remind families that enjoying sweets is okay, as long as it is done in moderation. Read on to learn five tips to scare away cavities during the Halloween season.
1. Choose treats wisely.
There are an abundance of candies and sweets out there, ranging from sticky to sour to sweet, and they’re not all created equal. Candies that are sticky, sour, or hard can be the toughest on teeth. Hard candies can be rough on the enamel of your teeth because they can be difficult to bite into. Sticky and sour candies are more likely to linger and leave behind sugars and acids that like to eat away at teeth and can cause cavities more easily.
Because of that, chocolate might be the better option because it is easier to rinse away with a few swigs of water if you aren’t able to brush your teeth after you enjoy some sweet treats.
2. Time it right.
They say timing is everything, and the same can be said for when to enjoy a little sweet treat. The team at Compass Dental Group recommends having a piece or two of candy after meals. This is because saliva production is higher after you eat, and saliva helps to wash away sugars and acids from your mouth before they stick to your teeth.
Another tip when it comes to enjoying candy is to not enjoy it all day. By that, we mean don’t graze on candy throughout the day. The less your teeth are exposed to sugar and acids, the better. If you do find yourself enjoying a piece or two of candy between meals, the Compass Dental Group suggests rinsing your mouth with water after you’re done snacking if you aren’t able to brush your teeth. Water not only helps to keep you hydrated, which is important for a healthy mouth and body, but water helps to wash away any lingering sugars that candy has left behind in your mouth.
3. Keep brushing, even on Halloween night!
It is very important to keep up with a good oral health routine. That includes brushing teeth at least twice a day for a minimum of two minutes each time, and flossing at least once a day, as well as using a mouthwash fortified with fluoride.
Just because it’s Halloween night doesn’t give you a pass to not brush your teeth. In fact, it might give your child more of a reason to brush their teeth after enjoying some of the candy they get during their trick-or-treat haul. It is important to reinforce that brushing and flossing on a daily basis is part of a smart oral health care routine, and missing brushing and flossing time can cause havoc in the long run.
4. Set candy limits.
After trick-or-treating, little eyes may see their candy haul and want to dive in right away. While it is okay to allow your children to have a few pieces of candy on Halloween, Maryville’s Compass Dental Group recommends parents help their children to portion out their candy. A bunch of candy can be bad on your child’s teeth, and so can the influx of sugar on their bodies. Make sure to set limits on candy so your child doesn’t overdo it all at once.
5. Book a post-Halloween dental visit.
If your child overdoes it on Halloween candy, they might need to visit our Maryville, MO, office to make sure their sweet-treat overload didn’t leave behind any scary surprises, like a cavity. Part of an overall healthy oral health routine include biannual dental checkups. These checkups allow the team at Compass Dental Group to perform a complete dental evaluation of your child’s mouth to make sure no ghouls or ghosts left any tricks behind in their mouth.
Our team will check for cavities and tooth decay, and will use dental X-rays to check for any hidden tricks our eyes can’t see. At the end of the evaluation, we’ll polish up your child’s teeth so they can go on smiling.
Happy Halloween from the team at Compass Dental Group.
Halloween is a fun time for children, and trick-or-treating can be a rite of passage for some. But it’s also important for your child to focus on their oral health and practice good dental care on Halloween and beyond. The team at Compass Dental Group doesn’t want to see any tricks caused by their treats. Give us a call today to schedule a dental checkup for you and your family.
