Caring for Your Teeth This Easter

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By Smiles By Design

Easter is coming whether you are ready or not. You know what that means – Chocolate! The stores are overflowing full of sugary sweets and the children are excited. It is more important now than ever to maintain a good dental health routine. If you take the right steps, your oral health doesn’t have to suffer. Here are some of our tips to care for your teeth this Easter.

Eat Chocolate with a Meal

You can minimize the damage to your teeth by limiting the exposure to sweets and chocolate. When sugar combines with the bacteria living in your mouth, it creates acids which like to attack the tooth enamel. The more often you consume these foods, the longer you are exposed to the enamel-decaying material.

Eat a small amount of chocolate with your meal and then be done. Don’t graze throughout the day.

Drink Lots of Water

When you drink water, you increase the saliva production of your mouth. This neutralizes the acid produced by bacteria. The more you drink throughout the day, the better your chances of keeping the mouth clean and healthy. As a bonus, be sure to choose fluoridated water.

Don’t Brush Right Away

Many people assume they are doing the right thing by brushing their teeth right after having sweets, but they are wrong. The acid in sweets softens your tooth enamel. When you brush that acid, you help to wear the enamel away further. Wait for about thirty minutes after eating and allow your saliva to neutralize the acid. 

Don’t neglect to brush your teeth at some point. If you aren’t going to be home, pack your toothbrush and toothpaste with you to clean while you are away. 

Avoid Hard and Sticky Sweets

Sticky sweets often get caught in between the teeth and are hard to flush away. When they sit between the teeth, your enamel begins to break down. In addition, eating hard candies often leads to chipped or broken teeth. If you must have something sweet, opt for some dark chocolate instead.

Your teeth are precious. Make sure you take care of them during the Easter holiday and every day of the year for a beautiful and healthy smile.

If you have any questions for your Hewlett, NY dentist, please give our office a call at (516) 239-6204.