While kids in Waco are excited and gearing up for the joyful holiday season, it’s up to the parents to make sure that they are doing so in a tooth-savvy manner. Here are a few tips that will help ensure that your child survives the holiday with a healthy smile.
- Be Careful With Hard and Sticky Snacks
If your child has a loose tooth, dental fillings, or protective sealants, then they should be careful when eating hard foods like peanut brittle, and sticky foods like certain candy, because they can pull something out. Losing baby teeth is a rite of passage, but just watch your child closely to make sure they don’t hurt themselves in the process by being too rough with the foods they eat.
- Goes Easy on The Sugar
The holidays are full of sugary treats out in the open, everywhere you look. Try to keep these to a minimum in your household and hide it from your kids so that they aren’t snacking on sugar all day long. Set a designated time and limit of sweets that they can have per day and make sure that they brush their teeth a little while afterward.
- Teeth Are Not Tools
Gripping candy wrappers and toy packages with little teeth can cause extensive damage. Remind your child that teeth are not tools and that you have the appropriate opening supplies 一 like scissors 一 readily available. No one in the room should be tempted to use their teeth for anything other than what they’re intended (chewing!)
- Brush Into An Early Christmas Gift
Go ahead and invest in an electric toothbrush for your kids and give it to them now. Children love the tickle of a buzzy brush and having one with their favorite superhero or cartoon character on it will make them want to keep brushing their teeth time and time again. Some other great tooth-friendly stocking stuffers include kid-friendly flossers or yummy-tasting fluoride toothpaste.
- Help Your Kids Keep To Their Oral Health Routine
Traveling and time out of school can often throw schedules out the window. But instead of forgetting their regular dental routine use the holiday season to encourage your children to maintain healthy habits. Set a reminder on your phone or your child’s iPad if that helps. When visiting somewhere, don’t pack the oral care products back up every day. Leave them out in the open on the bathroom counter so that everyone, including your children, see them and are reminded to brush their teeth.
- Have Your Child Checked For Cavities
Right before you get busy with all your holiday festivities is a great time to bring your child in for a dental checkup. We’ll get all their teeth clean and Dr. Susan Francis will perform an examination to check for cavities or anything that might be an issue in the near future. The last thing you’ll want your little one to deal with during this festive time is a toothache or other dental emergency. Call Bellmead Kid's Dentistry right now to make an appointment.