Trick or tip – dental health tips during Halloween

With Halloween (and dare I say it, the festive season) around the corner, This means bags of free sweets and easy access to sweet treats for children and adults.

It is hard to follow most routines, and completely resist the temptations, which can lead to neglecting your oral health. Here are 5 Dental health Tricks and Tips to help you get through Halloween in good shape.

1, Try to limit the frequency of eating sugary snacks – We all love a good sugary treat during Halloween. Be it at work, at home or in our children’s buckets, But, If you can, try and eat Halloween sweets and other sugary foods with meals or shortly after mealtime. That’s because the saliva that is produced increases during meals and helps cancel out acids produced by bacteria in your mouth and helps rinse away food particles

2, Avoid the stickier sweets – Besides how often you snack, the length of time sugary food is in your mouth plays a role in tooth decay. Unless it is a sugar-free product, candies that stay in the mouth for a long period of time subject teeth to an increased risk for tooth decay. The stickier sweets also take longer to get washed away by saliva.

3, Chew sugar-free gum – Instead of sweets, or straight after, consider gum. Studies show that chewing sugarless gum for 20 minutes after meals helps reduce tooth decay because increased saliva flow helps wash out food and neutralize the acid produced by dental plaque bacteria

4, Avoid sugary drinks as well – With all the sweet treats you will be eating, try to avoid the sugary drinks as well! Limit your drinks to fluoridated water in between meals especially.

5, Brush first thing in the morning and last thing at night! – A rule of thumb that makes all the difference. Be sure to brush your teeth last thing at night, spit the excess toothpaste, do not rinse your mouth and go straight to bed. This gives your teeth the night to recover and remineralize where possible.

At Brookside Dental, Market Harborough, Leicestershire, we strongly believe prevention is much better than treatment. Get in touch today by filling in the form above.

Visiting a hygienist is also great for preventing gum disease and decay, removing all the plaque and stains that cover our teeth. For pain-free cleans using AIRFLOW Click Here

We wish you all a happy Halloween