The spooky season is in full swing! If you’re looking forward to celebrating Halloween with your children, the team at Big Picture Pediatric Dentistry has some tips to help you avoid dental issues caused by the excessive consumption of sugary sweets:
Halloween “Dos” – Follow These Tips for a Healthier Mouth!
- Limit sugary treats to after mealtimes – When your kids have already eaten dinner, they won’t have space in their stomachs for quite as many sweet treats. This helps keep their overall sugar consumption down. Eating meals also stimulates saliva production, so the effects of sugar on their mouth will not be as pronounced.
- Have your child drink plenty of water – Simply giving your child a glass of water after they eat some sweet treats is a good way to help rinse away sugar and food debris.
- Let your kids eat multiple pieces of candy in one sitting – It might seem counter-intuitive, but it is better to eat multiple candies in one sitting than to space treats out throughout the day. All-day snacking increases your child’s risk of decay because their mouth will constantly be full of sugar. By giving your kids multiple pieces of candy at once, you can minimize the time your child spends with a lot of sugar on their teeth.
- Eat mostly chocolate candies – Compared to other Halloween treats, chocolate bars are much healthier for your teeth. They do not stick to the teeth as readily as gummy treats and they are easier to clean away.
- Keep kids brushing at least twice per day – In fact, you may even want to consider having your kids brush 3 times per day until your child’s stash of Halloween candy has been exhausted!
Halloween “Don'ts” – Avoid These Common Candy-Related Mistakes
- Give your kids hard or sticky candy – Hard candies and gummy candies both tend to stick to the teeth and can be very hard to remove even with proper brushing and flossing. Try to minimize your child’s consumption of these candies.
- Let them control their own candy stash – Never let your child take their candy to their room. It is important to control their stash so that you know how much candy they eat, which type, and when they eat it.
- Give them treats after brushing at night – Your kids should not eat anything, especially sugary snacks, after brushing their teeth at night. High sugar levels in the mouth at night can contribute to tooth decay.
- Deny your kids a fun Halloween experience – If you use common sense when monitoring your child’s consumption of sugary snacks, you’ll be able to keep your child’s teeth healthy and still have fun on Halloween! Set limits, but make sure your child still enjoys the holiday!
Need a Pre or Post-Halloween Checkup? Contact Us Today!
If your child is overdue for a cleaning and oral exam, now is the perfect time to schedule an appointment with Dr. Brock! Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the winter holidays are times of high sugar consumption, so it’s important to take good care of your child’s teeth during this season. Contact us today at (281) 461-7470 or come to our office at 17150 El Camino Real, Houston TX 77058 to get started.
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