Two Things About Halloween Candy And Your Child's Oral Health

Dentist Blog

While the best way to keep your kid's teeth healthy is to not allow them any candy at all, that can be quite difficult to do around Halloween when the candy is quite plentiful. Here are two things to know about the impact of Halloween candy on your child's teeth.

The Duration Of Time That Sugar Is On The Teeth Matter

There is actually a right and wrong way to have your child go about eating candy to ensure that their teeth are as healthy as possible. It all starts with how long that sugar sits on their teeth. If you had the choice between having your child snack on their candy slowly throughout the day or eat it all at once, the latter is actually the better option for the health of their teeth. That's because the damage caused by sugar is from the prolonged exposure on the surface of the teeth throughout the day. 

When a child snacks throughout the day, the sugar never has a chance to get washed away due to saliva or drinking water. When all the candy is eaten quickly. Your mouth has plenty of time to recover and get rid of the sugar. The result of spacing out the snacks is that the sugar will eat away at the teeth enamel all day long. Try to have your child drink plenty of water with candy, or rinse out their mouth afterward to prevent plaque from forming on their teeth.

The Type Of Candy Makes A Difference

Be aware of the type of candy your child is eating since some are better than your teeth than others. For example, plain chocolate candies are going to wash off the teeth quite easily. In addition, dark chocolate is going to have much less sugar content than milk chocolate. Of course, any sugar-free candy or gum is going to be better than those candies that are jam-packed with sugar. 

Sticky and sour candies are going to be much worse for your kid. The sticky candies are going to stick to your child's teeth and make it difficult for the sugar to wash away, especially in those places between your teeth that need to be flossed. Sour candies contain acidic ingredients, which will be bad for teeth enamel over time. Hard candies also have the potential to cause a tooth to break, and suckers just add to the duration that the candy is in your child's mouth. 

If you're concerned about your child's teeth, visit a family dental clinic near you. 

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22 October 2020

Coping With Dental Emergencies

My son was outside playing with some friends when he accidentally fell down and hit his mouth on the sidewalk. The fall knocked out his front tooth, so I immediately placed the tooth in a small jar and added some milk. I rushed my son to the dental clinic and the dentist immediately took us into the examination room. The dentist placed the tooth back into the socket and saved it. My name is Beverly Tillman and thanks to the quick work of the dentist, my son didn't lose his tooth. Since this was a scary time for me and my son, I wanted to write this blog as a source of information for other parents who are facing a dental emergency. First of all, don't panic and get to your dentist as soon as possible. I hope this blog will help to answer your questions about dental emergencies.