With all the feasting and merry-making that comes with the holiday season, kids are inevitably more prone to cavities at this time of year. Help your pediatric dentist not worry about your kids’ teeth by taking some preventive measures this season.
Limit your child’s sugar intake.
We all know that when we talk about children, we’re also dealing with a sweet tooth. It’s hard to take that away from them, especially if they’ve already gotten used to eating sweets. However, as parents, we should also take responsibility for their oral health care. Thus, limiting their intake of sweets and other sugary snacks falls to us. Although it’s near impossible to eliminate sweets from their diet, there is a way to control it.
Try serving healthier snacks alongside some of their sweet treats. Or perhaps you can even serve them a limited amount on a small dish for a day. Once they’ve consumed it all, that’s it, no more seconds. Offer other snacking alternatives that have little to do with sugar. Doing this will help you prevent cavities from forming inside their mouths.
Consider how long the food will spend inside your child’s mouth.
When you’re giving your child something to eat or snack on this holiday season, take note of how long that morsel of food will stay inside his or her mouth. Taking into account a child’s eating time is a crucial step in the prevention of cavities.
Consider one candy cane that takes a few minutes to finish as opposed to a few cookies. Give your child snacks that can be eaten and swallowed immediately instead of hard candies that stay inside the mouth a lot longer.
Serve desserts during the meal and not after it.
It might seem pointless but serving desserts during the main meal is a great way to prevent cavities and plaque from building up. As mentioned in the previous point, the longer sugar stays inside the mouth, the greater the risk of cavities and tooth decay. Serving desserts with the main course prevents sugar from sticking and staying on your child’s teeth. The bottom line is, you wouldn’t want sweets to be the last thing your child eats.
Drink lots of water.
This is a pretty simple yet very effective cavity-prevention measure. One of water’s main health benefits is it rinses off and washes down sugar from the teeth. This reduces the chances of plaque from building up and damaging the teeth. Minimize or completely avoid soda and juice if you can. You can serve them milk instead as milk is healthy for the teeth.
Brush teeth after each meal.
Talk about something undeniable. The saying “brush your teeth three times a day” is not just something that’s made up. It is a beneficial measure to prevent cavity, plaque, and tooth decay from taking place.
At the very least, kids should brush their teeth after every meal. However, it would also be prudent if parents encourage their kids to brush their teeth after eating sugary treats. Brushing helps remove sugary particles that get stuck in the teeth, so it is advised that children be taught how to brush their teeth properly.
Don’t skip on a dentist appointment.
Lastly, making regular trips to the dentist is a vital part of proper oral health care. You should bring your kids to a pediatric dentist at least twice a year to ensure that their teeth grow healthy and strong. The holiday season is one of the best times to take your kids to the dentist because of their free time.
Don’t let the holiday celebrations give your kid a toothache and you a headache. Take some preventive measures to ensure that your child’s teeth stay healthy throughout this season.
