Charlotte Pediatric Dental Tips for your Holiday Tricks and Treats
It is almost impossible to pry these delicious treats from your child’s hands after a night of trick-or-treating. Even worse, as the holiday season kicks into high gear with class parties and family gatherings, the challenge will only become more difficult. After all, it is just as hard to resist sneaking a bite for yourself, but understanding how certain types of candies can be a recipe for a dental disaster might just change the way that you and your family enjoy them.
Without totally ruling out sweets this year, you can still make sure that the appointments at your pediatric dental office in Charlotte are filled with more good news than bad news by eliminating some of the worst goodie bag offenders.
Use your parental veto power to sideline these 5 unhealthy treats:
- Snickers-The chocolate, caramel, and nougat make this treat a no-no in terms of calories and fat. Plus, the ooey-gooey texture will help it to stick into all of the crevices in teeth and between the teeth, making it hard to brush away. A chocolate treat that is less dense and less sticky is generally a better alternative.
- Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins– Each of these seasonal sweets is packed with about 180 calories, about 100 more calories than a regular Reese’s! This amount of calories and saturated fat can be bad news for your whole family, so try to avoid reaching for more than one.
- Candy corn– A candy that tries to pass itself off as a vegetable should raise a red flag. Quite the opposite of real corn, this classic goodie is literally made from sugar, flavoring, and artificial coloring. Keeping this short list of ingredients in mind will help you to keep these to a minimum.
- Tootsie Pops– These popular pops will keep your little one licking for quite a while, and that’s what makes lollipops such a threat. The lengthy exposure to sugar will make your child’s risk for tooth decay sky-rocket.
- Starburst– It’s easy to see how these candies can be problematic. They stick to the teeth immediately and are hard to wash away, creating a perfect environment for cavity-causing bacteria. Since each piece is wrapped individually, lower the cavity risk by limiting the portion size to just one or two.
To schedule a checkup (and for moral support) during this holiday season, call your Charlotte pediatric dentist today.