Celebrate Halloween Responsibly With Tips From Our O’Fallon Dentists
As Halloween approaches, our dental team is here to help you prepare for the influx of sugary sweets you’ll be confronted with! Halloween can be a lot of fun, but it is important that you take some steps to protect your smile during this time of year. Keep reading to get some helpful tips from our O’Fallon dentists!
The first thing that you can do help your smile is to up your water intake. When you drink plenty of water, your body is better able to produce smile-strengthening saliva. So make sure that you’re sipping water throughout the day, and definitely replace sugary soft drinks and juices with water when possible.
The next thing to keep in mind is that when you consume candy can make a big difference in how it affects your smile. It is better, for example, to eat candy after a meal, because your body produces a lot of saliva when you eat; some of the negative effects of sugary candy will be minimized by saliva. Also, try to consume candy in short sittings, rather than snacking many times throughout the day. We want to minimize the amount of time that your enamel and oral tissues are exposed to sugars.
It is always a good idea to rinse your mouth with water after eating candy, as this will help to dislodge any debris that are stuck between your teeth. If you do get a stubborn piece of sticky candy stuck in your mouth, please use gentle floss to remove it, rather than poking at your smile with a potentially damaging metal or wooden toothpick.
One more note: when you are enjoying a hard candy, please do not chew on these treats—doing so can actually harm your enamel, and lead to dental cracks and chips.
We hope you have a safe and enjoyable Halloween! Give our O’Fallon dentists a call to learn more about the ways you can safeguard your smile.