Keeping Your Kids Teeth Healthy This Easter

18 / 04 / 2019

Keeping Your Kids Teeth Healthy This Easter

Too Much Chocolate Could Lead To A Sooner-Than-Expected Visit To Our Ipswich Practice!

With shops and supermarkets now packing the aisles with Easter eggs, often at children’s eye level, it is almost impossible to avoid them. Children certainly won’t, and for many, Easter can be a feast of sugary ‘goodness’, which, if not controlled, can be particularly harmful to their young teeth.

We have no desire to be a killjoy at this time of the year, but our Lighthouse Dental Practice team have put together a few suggestions to help you to reduce any dental issues that might arise over the coming weekend when over-indulgence in sweet treats is commonplace.

Make Sure They Brush Their Teeth

Easter or not, children should continue to brush their teeth well, preferably supervised by their parents if they are younger. This particularly applies at festive periods when their sugar consumption can skyrocket. A good brushing routine should be the very least you insist on for good basic oral health care.

Minimise Snacking On Chocolate

Although we might tell our children that they will make themselves sick if they eat their Easter egg in one go, as our parents probably also told us, this is actually not the worst idea that there is. Although it may make them feel queasy if they do this, it is the best way to eat sweet foods as far as their teeth are concerned. The problem with eating sugary substances little and often is that the teeth are exposed to sugar for a longer period of time, without significant breaks. If you eat all of the chocolate at once, your saliva will help to wash away much of the chocolate and sugars from your teeth, giving them time to remineralise.

Drink Plenty Of Water

Chocolate is sticky stuff and kids will almost certainly want to have a drink to wash it down. Too often, this will be fruit drinks or even fizzy sodas. These may feel refreshing but simply add to the overload of sugar during the holiday period. A much better alternative is water. This will not only help to hydrate, but will also wash away a large amount of the sugars from their mouths.

Look For Alternatives

Unless your child is in a very small minority, their number one priority this weekend will be chocolate and other ‘goodies’. Most children will also have other interests though, and it may be possible to ‘exploit’ this and look at alternative options to Easter eggs as a special treat. Remember that it may not only be you who buys them Easter eggs, but they may end up with a small mountain of them from various relatives too. Try thinking ‘outside the box’ if there are other things your child would like instead, such as a small toy or even a trip somewhere that they enjoy, such as the zoo. Providing that they get at least some chocolate, most children will probably happily accept suitable alternatives.

Put A Time Limit On Eating Chocolate

The kids are off school and will probably go to bed later than usual. There is every chance that they will try to grab a last piece of chocolate Easter egg before reluctantly brushing their teeth and going to bed.

We recommend trying to put any temptation out of reach at least an hour or so before this time. Eating a ‘last minute’ Easter snack is likely to mean that they will simply smear the chocolate around their teeth when they brush them, leaving them coated in sugar during the night and increasing the likelihood of dental caries. By allowing an hour or so between their last chocolate and brushing their teeth, their saliva, and hopefully water too, will have removed a sizeable amount already, making their brushing more effective.

And You Too…

Even though, as adults, we know more about the consequences of eating too many sugary products, we are not always saints either. Remember that all of the above, and probably more, applies to you too. By all means, enjoy Easter and allow yourself some chocolatey treats too, but keep this in moderation and brush and floss your teeth too.

Find out more about our Children’s Dentistry services…

The Lighthouse Dental Practice will be closed for much of the Easter holiday period, but we will be back the following week. Hopefully, no emergency dental care will be needed, but if it is, please call our usual number of 01473 257379 and listen to the recording to find the nearest Ipswich emergency dental service. Enjoy Easter!

We are here to help you.
If you would like to speak to a member of our friendly team about any of the issues in this article please visit our contact page or call us on 01473 257379.