Orange County Dentist Offers Tips for a Cavity Free Halloween!

Our best advice for Halloween: Easy on the Sweets! :)

Halloween is known for a few things, but one of the most prominent aspects of Halloween is the act of giving and receiving candy. Adults love candy just as much as children, but unfortunately candy poses risks to your dental health! This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy your Halloween, but there are a few tips you could follow to make sure you and your children have a cavity-free Halloween!

Focus on the Chocolates

Ask any dentist around Halloween what candy they prefer and a majority of them will say chocolate. Milk chocolates contain the most sugar of all forms of chocolate, but it’s still considerably less than some candies that are basically pure blocks of sugar. In short, it’s the lesser of two evils.

We recommend dark chocolate that contains a high cacao content. Not only is dark chocolate very low in sugar content (especially if it contains a high cacao content), but it also comes packed with nutritional benefits such as flavonoids, which can help regulate blood pressure and even prevent heart disease, among others.

Savor the Flavor

When you “savor the flavor”, you purposely chew on a piece of food at a slower rate than normal so that you are exposed to the flavor longer. Now, we’re not saying apply this to your candy, but rather, apply this to the consumption of your candy.

In short, we’re saying try not to consume all of your candy in one week, rather, space it out by a few months or perhaps even longer so that you are not exposing your mouth to as much sugar.

We’re sure you’ve heard it before but… moderation is key!

Giving Feels Better Than Receiving

If you’re the type who feels guilty indulging in sweets, then we highly suggest giving it away. Not only are you making someone else’s day, but also you’re taking a proactive approach in keeping your oral health up-to-par, and that’s something to be proud of. Plus, the feeling of brightening someone’s day simply put – feels good. Pat yourself on the back for us.

Visit Your Dentist

We wouldn’t be great dentists if we didn’t tell you to visit your dentist for a dental checkup after the Halloween fun has begun to die down. To make sure you haven’t gone off the deep end as far as your teeth are concerned, we recommend taking advantage of your year end dental insurance plans by coming in to our Orange County dental office for a professional examination!

Happy Halloween from Image Dental OC!

How Important is Fluoride for Children?

Children should always brush AND floss.

Recent research has revealed that cavities in children have gone up more than 15 percent. You’re probably wondering… “why is this?”. Good question.

A spokesperson for the American Association of Pediatric Dentists, Dr. Michael Ignelzi, has revealed a few habits that should be broken because of this alarming news. Dr. Ignelzi believes a big reason to the rise in cavities is due to the amount of fluoride children are receiving.

Fluoride can be found in tap water, or public water sources. Many parents opt for bottled water because of its on-the-go convenience. It’s certainly better to drink bottled water over sugar-infested drinks, but bottled water does not give children the fluoride that their mouths could benefit from.

Dr. Ignelzi acknowledges the concern of skeptics who believe fluoride is a toxic substance but still believes that its positives outweigh any negatives associated with it. Fluoride is very important for both developing teeth and permanent teeth in children.

Aside from this, children are snacking far too often on food items that can be replaced with so many other healthy options. Typical culprits include candies that are filled with sugar, as well as drinks such as sodas. Don’t be fooled by fruit juice as it too contains a large amount of sugar. In simple terms, sugary foods and oral health do not mix. Fluoride is the agent that interrupts the demineralization process that takes place when sugar combines with the bacteria in our mouths.

2 Dental Habits That Should Be Broken

A popular habit both children and adults find comfort in is to wash out their teeth with water after a thorough brushing. Dr. Ignelzi advises that this should not be done because when you wash your mouth out with water, you’re also washing away most of the fluoride toothpaste that you just spent a couple of minutes trying to apply to your teeth.

The other habit that parents are susceptible of is not introducing their children to fluoride toothpaste until the age of 2. Dr. Ignelzi urges parents to start using fluoride toothpastes in grain-sized amounts until your child turns 3, and then start using a pea sized amount until they turn 6.

On top of a general lack of fluoride usage, many children are simply not finding the motivation to brush their teeth. Educating children is important in the sense that not only should they know how to properly brush their teeth, but also should be aware of the consequences of what happens when you don’t.

Your Newport Beach dentist takes pediatric dentistry very seriously because the earlier good habits form, the better off your children will be. 

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