Want To Protect Your Kids Teeth At Halloween? Here’s What You Need To Know

As responsible Chesterfield dentists we wouldn’t be doing our jobs unless we talked about the importance of protecting teeth from cavities. For kids especially, with Halloween just around the corner, the chance to get dressed up, carve pumpkins and obtain free candy is irresistible. The trouble is that while most kids aren’t likely to complain, over indulging on sweet treats can do a lot of damage to teeth. So as a caring parent, just how do you protect your child’s teeth at Halloween, without seeming like a party-pooper. Here are some top dental care tips.

Set limits

Before your child goes trick-or-treating, it’s well worth talking to them about the dangers of eating too much candy and the importance of dental cavity prevention. Once you’ve had that discussion, why not set some limits by giving them a smaller trick-or-treat bag. Of course it’ll stop them from receiving too much candy, and you can always sell it to them by saying that it’ll be far easier for them to carry. Whether they believe you or not is a different story.

If at the end of the evening you feel that they’ve accumulated more candy than you’d like them to have, why not set specific treat times. Constant snacking on sugary foods such as hard candy and lollipops is the fastest way to a dental cavity. Instead limit sugary snacks to certain times of the day, by getting your child to put all their candy in a treat box (controlled by you of course) and encourage them to follow your limitations.

Go sugar free

Another top dental care tip is to keep a pile of sugar free snacks in the house in the form of gum and candy and look to trade say every other candy your child has for a sugar free version. You could even make it a fun game, kind of like Top Trumps but with healthy snacks. Better still, why not swap the sugar loaded snack for a piece of fruit such as an apple, or even a small inexpensive toy or gift. This way your child can still have a reward for their trick-or-treating efforts, except now, those rewards are going to be far kinder to their teeth.

Pay particular attention to dental care

One of the best ways to assist dental cavity prevention is to ensure teeth are brushed regularly. In fact, during the Halloween period as conscientious Chesterfield dentists we’d recommend parents to have their child brush their teeth after every meal, and ideally…after every sugary snack. If this isn’t possible, rinsing with water after snacking will at least prevent the sugary acids from hanging around. Do remember though that sticky candy such as toffee is notorious for getting lodged between teeth, so ensure any brushing is thorough.

So there you have it…. 3 dental care tips that you can use to protect your child’s teeth during Halloween. The important thing to remember is that Halloween is a fun time for kids. They love dressing up and of course they love the candy too. Being a responsible parent doesn’t mean that you have to deprive them of that. On the contrary, by having a plan in place they can still enjoy the Halloween celebrations, while you have their dental cavity prevention covered.

At Chesterfield Dentistry Dr Akinwande and the team pride themselves on delivering the very best comprehensive care for both adults and children. For further information on our services, give us a call on (314) 469 6429. We’d love to hear from you.