Have a Healthy Halloween
October 28, 2015
Halloween is just around the corner and you know what that means! Oodles of costumes and candy coming your way. Sometimes the scariest part about Halloween for parents and pediatric dentists alike is not the ghoulish grins, vampires, or werewolves on every street, it’s the tooth decay and cavities that lurk in the bottom of those trick-or-treat bags. While cavities are pretty scary, it’s important that your child banishes tooth decay every day. Just because they get an overload of sugary treats this time of year, doesn’t mean that you’ll stop slaying cavity-causing bacteria. Here are a few things you can do to remind your kiddos to keep their teeth healthy while in a caramel craze.
Brush and Floss Those Chompers –
Just because it’s Halloween doesn’t mean you can skimp on brushing and flossing those teeth, especially when you’ve been bingeing on fun-sized candy bars. Brushing teeth twice a day for two minutes at a time removes the sugar and bacteria that leads to cavities. Flossing is especially important to remove any gooey or nutty remnants from between the teeth. By making sure your kids brush and floss the sugar off their teeth before they fall into a caramel coma, you’ll make sure no cavities comes a long.
Provide Lots of Alternatives –
While it’s no surprise that candy is the belle of the ball on Halloween, by providing your kids with healthy alternatives you’d be surprised at how often they reach for the tangerine jack-o-lantern, banana ghosts with chocolate chips for eyes, and mozzarella stick mummies. There are lots of Halloween-inspired healthy snacks you can fill up on before going trick-or-treating.
A few more tips
- Keep your child’s candy in a safe spot (safe from chocolate looters that is) that’s not in their room to discourage late-night snacking.
- Remind them that their Trick-or-Treating treats are just that, they don’t need to eat 10 candy bars, four lollypops, and a bag of gummy bears. Limit them to a few choices each day.
- Remind them to not chew on hard candy as well, biting down on suckers and jaw breakers can crack their teeth. As much as we love to see you in our Palm Harbor office we don’t want your child to have a Halloween dental emergency.
Having a healthy Halloween is easy and doesn’t mean you have to skimp out on any of the fun. So, get dressed up, collect as much candy as those little arms can carry, and remember that the candy will get eaten or become stale before you know it but healthy teeth are forever!
From Dr. Maggie and our entire staff, Happy Halloween!!!
It’s Teething Time
October 12, 2015
Teething is an exciting time in your child’s life, maybe not so much for you. They’re almost ready to start discovering the wonderful world of solid food, while you’re trying your best to soothe their aching, growing mouths. As your pediatric dentist, we wanted to share with you some information about teething, what you can do to sooth their sore gums, and how you can keep those first teeth to emerge healthy and cavity free.
Teething begins around four and seven months of age. Your baby’s body is getting ready to push through 20 teeth in the next two and a half years. That’s a full set of teeth by the time they’re three years old!
You’ll notice your child is teething when they become sleepless, fussy and irritable. They may loose their appetite and begin to drool more than usual.
Too soothe those aching gums the best thing you can do is to rub their gums with a clean finger, a small, cold spoon, or with a moist gauze. Teething rings are very helpful for fussy babies that just need to chew on something to cut those teeth.
Another thing to think about and be wary of are benzocaine products. Benzocaine products are anesthetic gels that can ease oral pain for adults but can be very dangerous for children under the age of 2. If your child seems as though they are in severe pain, please call your pediatric dentist for consultation first.
Once those new teeth begin to emerge, it’s time to start caring for them. While you won’t exactly be breaking out the electric toothbrush, floss, and fluoridated mouth rinse just yet, keeping those pearly whites clean is extremely important. You can do this in the beginning stages by wiping them a wet washcloth. As more teeth emerge, upgrade to an infant toothbrush and toothpaste approved by the ADA for infant use. And begin brushing twice a day. This not only keeps their teeth clean, but helps introduce them to a new routine.
Teething isn’t the most fun part of your child’s development. But, after the fussing stops and those cute little teeth come through, they’ll be able to enjoy healthy snacks like cheese and apple slices. They’ll also soon be able to take charge of their dental health.
If you have any questions about how you can help your child through teething and how best too keep their teeth healthy after they’ve all come in, give us a call today. We can’t wait to see their smiling faces.