Summer time presents parents with an excellent chance to help their kids get ahead on their oral health. Here’s how you can help your children have a cavity-free summer.
1 – Maintain an Active Oral Health Routine
It can be hard for kids to get into a summer brushing routine if they don’t have to wake up for school. Relaxed schedule aside, it’s important that your child brushes their teeth twice per day for two minutes at a time, and flosses once per day to clean debris from the hard-to-reach areas of their teeth. Brushing and flossing is the most important way to keep your mouth healthy, and fight plaque that causes cavities. If you have braces or other orthodontic equipment, try a proxabrush, which is designed to clean in between brackets and orthodontic devices.
2 – Eat Food that Teeth Love
Starchy carbs like potato chips and crackers can stick to teeth and cause unhealthy acid buildup that fuels cavities. Instead of snacking on food that sticks to teeth, try eating food that cleans teeth as it’s being eaten. Fibrous vegetables like carrots, celery and bell pepper are excellent snacking alternatives to unhealthy chips and crackers. Their texture actually scrubs tooth enamel, and helps remove unhealthy plaque buildup.
You can strengthen your teeth with food that’s rich in calcium, magnesium, and protein. Dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt are all packed with the vitamins and minerals needed to build strong teeth and bones.
3 – Drink More Water
Saliva is crucial in the fight against cavities, and it is 99% water! When you are low on saliva, you will most likely experience dry mouth – a condition that makes it hard to swallow and chew because of a lack of saliva. By drinking enough water, you can prevent dry mouth and ensure that your saliva is produced at an optimal rate.
Additionally, saliva and water also help keep teeth free of starchy food-debris that can eat away at tooth enamel. In fact, we suggest swishing with clean cool water for thirty seconds after meals to get rid of excess food debris, and prevent food-debris from turning into acid buildup on your tooth enamel.
4 – Travel with Oral Care in Mind
If you’re travelling this summer, be sure that your family packs everything they need to maintain their oral health. A mouth-healthy travel kit is a great way to keep teeth clean while on the road. We suggest packing it with a toothbrush in a travel case, travel-sized dental floss, toothpaste, and a proxabrush or floss threaders if you have an oral appliance. When planning your summer travel, be sure to block off about 10 minutes each day for your family to take care of their oral care and personal maintenance.
Visit Our Office
Summer time gives you a great opportunity to catch up on your family’s oral health status by visiting our office for a checkup. Call us today to schedule an appointment so that we can evaluate the state of your children’s teeth, and help them reach healthier smile this summer.