Easter Survival Guide for Your Teeth

Easter survival guide for your teeth

With Easter break just around the corner, those delicious Easter eggs tend to get the best of many of us where the willpower may not be the strongest. Easter eggs are often difficult to avoid in many cases, whether it is the supermarket where they are located almost everywhere in bright coloured foil, to family gatherings where keeping the kids entertained with those easter egg hunts are a must! We all have those thoughts of ‘just this once’ or perhaps ‘one more won’t hurt’ and being human these circumstances are all very common and we can all feel guilty in our thought processes. Our choices can have long term implications on not only our dental health but our overall wellbeing.

It’s not an unknown fact that sugar is terrible not just on your teeth but your overall health in most cases. In this article, The Smile Designer will give you some tips to help keep your family’s teeth healthy this Easter and for the future by creating good habits.

01 Ensure Regular and Thorough Brushing

Sometimes after a long day of family gatherings brushing and flossing our teeth for children and as adults can almost feel like a choir and can easily be avoided. It is important that we give kids an understanding and a good routine in place and teach them the importance of brushing twice a day. Whether this is done whilst listening to your favourite music, videos, or just creating a self-care calming regime that will help keep you stay motivated. With children, they need to be brushing their teeth just as much if not more than they usually do when they have had ample of Easter treats

02

Drinking Water after consuming chocolates and treats

It is important to provide water with Easter sweets and encourage your children to drink it as they eat chocolate bunnies and other sweets. Water helps flush your mouth, rinsing your mouth allows the water to work with mouth bacteria to prevent forming decay causing acids. It is also important to wait at least 30 minutes after eating before brushing your teeth especially those sour candies as they can be acidic. This will help avoid enamel erosion and will help protect tooth enamel.

03

Avoid Grazing

Snacking is often something where the willpower of many waivers. For the teeth, it is best to have sweet treats all at once. The more regularly sweet treats are eaten, the more we expose our teeth to damaging acid that will eventually cause tooth decay. It is also important to avoid sweets late at night and close to bedtime.

04

Avoid Sticky and Hard lollies:

Sticky and hard lollies can not only get stuck in your teeth but also make it difficult to clean and reach those areas. Hard and sticky lollies can also increase the risk of breaking teeth and dislodging any previous fillings or crowns in your teeth.Chewy lollies: Limit your consumption of lollies that are sticky or gummy like. These can include anything from caramel, nougat, jellybeans, star bursts as not only are they difficult to rinse out, but they can remain sticking to your teeth allowing the sugar more time to sit in your mouth and cause damage to the enamel, therefore, increasing the chances of forming tooth decay.Hard lollies: It is also sensible to avoid solid treats such as hard toffees and hard candy, as there is always a risk that breakage and chipping of your teeth.

05

The better choices for your teeth:

Dark chocolate: Chocolate is good for your teeth! That is right, you never thought you would ever hear that! During Easter, it’s best to just stick to chocolate, just keep it to 75% and above. Properties in dark chocolate have been proven to strengthen enamel. Cacao beans contain tannins, polyphenols and flavonoids which are all strong antioxidants that can benefit teeth. It’s important to train your kids at a young age and acquire the taste of ‘bitter’ chocolate so their tastebuds can learn the difference between high quality chocolate. This way there will be a better appreciation towards the good stuff!Homemade baked goods refined sugar free: Refined sugar free options such as coconut sugar, pure maple syrup, are great alternatives as they have a low glycaemic index and are less damaging to the teeth and body than your regular refined sugar. They are also packed with other great vitamins and minerals such as manganese, riboflavin, zinc, magnesium and keep blood sugar levels stable. Not only will you feel you are having a treat, but you will also be training yourself and kicking those cravings with healthier alternatives. Remember moderation is the key!

06

Avoid Sweets Close to Bedtime

Naturally, there is much less saliva present in the mouth when we go to sleep. It is the saliva in our mouth that helps protect our teeth and reduces the amount of acid present, therefore teeth can be more prone to decay if sweet treats are had late at night. Any treats and chocolates should be avoided late in the evening and most certainly should not be consumed after brushing your teeth.

07

Control what you eat with breakfast.

Easter can be a busy period for many. Several family gatherings, the Easter egg hunts to the weekends away, but no matter the exposure of snacking that may be prevalent amongst these environments you have control over one thing, and that is breakfast! Be sure to get your nutrients during breakfast and avoid adding any sugar to coffees and teas. Best to stay away from sugary breakfasts if your day is going to consist of family gatherings with exposure to treats. Having a good healthy breakfast with good fats, greens, and eggs, etc allows your body to stabilize your blood sugar levels, this will ensure you will not get those sugar cravings.

08

Visit your Smile Designer dentist

Once the Easter Bunny has gone, book your appointments for your clean and check for your whole family at The Smile Designer Dental Studio. This will ensure that regular routine hygiene is up to date and we will give you are a tooth good clean and recommend any treatment plans necessary.