How to keep your Child's Teeth Healthy for Halloween!

Dr. Porter wants to help keep your children’s teeth from cavities!  Below, we have some great tips for those Halloween treats your child may be getting this holiday!

As soon as your child gets home, sort through the candy. Remove the candy they don’t really like. Once the good candy is gone they will move on to the not so favorite candy- so get rid of it! The most frightening candy to a kid’s teeth is sour gummy candy. Not only is it sugary and sticky but the sour flavoring is acidic which is the worse combination for anyone’s teeth.  Kid’s with braces need to remove these orthodontic nightmares from their pile which consist of caramels, hard candy, bubblegum, taffy, licorice, candy apples and popcorn.

Don’t let the bags of candy disappear. Kids love to keep their Halloween candy and goodies in their bedroom.  This is a big NO-NO. Grazing on candy all day and before bedtime is a cavity waiting to happen. Keep candy where parents can keep an eye on it.

Spread it out. Take Halloween candy and put it in smaller bags giving it to kids weekly.  They can prolong the Halloween holiday and not have so much candy at once.

No Halloween candy in school lunchboxes! Kids usually get enough sugar at school with fruit juices and sports drinks and then they don’t brush until bedtime. That’s at least 8 hours of sugar just sitting on their teeth. This is SCARIER than HALLOWEEN! 

Hope these tips from Dr. Edwin Porter’s Office has given you some ideas on how to keep your kid’s teeth healthier during the busiest candy holiday of the year!  Remember, not only is Dr. Porter a Cosmetic dentist, we also focus on ALL ages.  We complete fillings and cleanings on the little ones and dentures and partials for the older patients.  Come in and see what Dr. Porter is all about!  704-544-5330 or Office@DentistryinCharlotte.com

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween to all of our patients and friends on the web! Remember to brush after that candy consumption to reduce the risk of cavities and toothaches!

Enjoy the photo from today as Wanda dressed up as Charlie Chaplin and Samantha dressed up as a Toddlers and Tiaras contestant!

Stay safe Charlotte!

Love,
Dr. Edwin S. Porter
and the Arboretum Gang

Halloween Cavities?!

Halloween! Halloween Costumes! Halloween CANDY!! Halloween Cavities??!!

Halloween is next week, which means a seemingly endless supply of candy. Candy is a nightmare for your teeth. Especially since Halloween candy seems to last well past the first snowfall. Even though candy is bad for your teeth, I am not going to tell you to give it up completely. Let's be honest, who would listen to that?

The type of candy you do eat is important. Sticky candies like taffy, gummy bears and licorice are the worst for your teeth. This type of candy gets caught on tooth surfaces and in between teeth. Also, try to avoid chewing on hard candies because there is a chance for a tooth fracture or damage to a filling. Hard candies like lollipops tend to remain in the mouth for long periods of time, thus subjecting your teeth to prolonged acid attacks. Avoid gum that has sugar in it as well.

After eating a piece of candy, there are some preventative measures that can be helpful. Ideally, if you can brush your teeth right after consumption with fluoride toothpaste, this is the best. If not, make sure to brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste and floss. If brushing your teeth after candy is not an option, try swishing with water. Also try chewing sugarless gum for twenty minutes and this has been proven to reduce tooth decay because it increases saliva production.