‘Egg-cellent' Ways to Protect your Teeth

With Easter on the horizon, the Easter Bunny will soon be deciding what holiday treats to put in children's baskets. Although it's a special occasion, here at Modern Dentistry of Shrewsbury we believe that it's never a bad idea to be conscious of how your candy choice contributes to the health of your teeth, and especially your children's teeth. The good news is that a less damaging selection may be easier to find, and better tasting than you might think.

One of the Easter Bunny's favorite basket stuffers is the classic chocolate bunny. Consider a hollow bunny, as opposed to a solid one, or worse yet, one filled with cream, caramel, or peanut butter. Those hidden surprises may be enticing, however, for the sake if your teeth and health, hollow bunnies help control your children's portioning. Also, those sugary cremes coat your teeth in sugar, leading to deterioration and decay.
It may be a bit harder to find, but we highly recommend that you give your children dark chocolate instead of the more common milk chocolate. Dark chocolate has been found to help prevent tooth decay, sometimes even better than fluoride. Coco beans also have compounds with an antibacterial effect which helps fight plaque. This is another reason to choose dark chocolate, as it contains more natural coco. If you can find anything that contains nuts, including them can help by breaking up unwanted material lingering in your mouth. Nuts also contain proteins and fiber which promote good dental and general health.

Candy is the worst on your teeth when the sugars lingers in your mouth. For this reason, we recommend you shy away from hard candies such as lollipops. These candies tend to stay in your mouth for extended amounts of time, creating a continuous filament of sugar around your teeth. We similarly recommend you avoid gummy candies like gummy worms or sour gummy treats. Not only are these made primarily of damaging acids, but they also end up lodged deep into the crevasse of your teeth, extending their decaying effect. This greatly effects the chance of cavities in your children's teeth. Instead consider sugarless candies or gum. These can actually be good for your teeth. Not only does it help dislodge other food particles from in between your teeth, but it also causes salivation which kick starts your mouths natural self-cleaning mechanisms.

It's difficult to not indulge your children in sugary treats from time to time, especially on special occasions like Easter or Halloween. It is possible to keep your children's teeth in good health by doing this occasionally, so long as you are sure to impart in them good dental hygiene behavior. If your children are going to spend half the day sucking on a sugary hard candy, be sure to make sure they compensate by brushing and flossing at least twice a day. Ideally, they should do this right after they eat the treats. At the end of the day, it's important to remember that wise food choices, regular brushing and flossing, and routine visits to the dentist are the key to optimal dental health.