HOW TO LOOK AFTER YOUR SMILE THIS EASTER

By Dartford Road Dental Practice

and you could cause more damage by brushing. Allow your enamel 30 minutes to re-harden first if you want to brush. In the meantime, drinking water and chewing sugar-free gum can help to stimulate saliva flow and wash away sugary food debris and bacteria.

Bigger is not always better

Some larger chocolate eggs can contain 8-10 times the recommended daily sugar intake for children. A large 250g chocolate bunny can contain up to 35 teaspoons of sugar. That’s a whopping 175g of sugar!

Recommended sugar intake for children:

· Babies and toddlers – should avoid sugar

Easter can be a challenging time for our teeth. Sugar is one of the main causes of tooth decay. Unluckily for our patients in Kent, most Easter eggs bought in our shops are averaging around 20 teaspoons per medium-large egg!

Dartford Road Dental Centre has a few tricks and tips to help minimise your risk of decay this Easter, so you can happily enjoy your treats, guilt-free!

Enjoy your Easter treats at mealtimes

Every time you enjoy something sugary, it feeds the bacteria living on your teeth, creating harmful acids at the same time. These acids soften the enamel on your teeth, making them more susceptible to erosion and decay. It takes your saliva around 30 minutes to neutralise this acidity. If you wait 30 minutes and then eat another sugary snack the whole process starts again and your teeth are endlessly subjected to acidic conditions.

Our dentists at Dartford Road Dental Centre recommend eating your eggs in fewer sittings, preferably at mealtimes, preventing this continuous acid attack.

Damage control

There are a few things you can do to limit the damage after eating your sugary treats. Many of us would rush to clean our teeth but as we’ve learned, your teeth soften during this acid attack

· Four to 6 years old – No more than 19g of sugar per day

· Seven to 10 years old – No more than 24g of sugar per day

· Age 11 to Adult – No more than 30g of sugar per day

Switch up your Easter egg hunt this year!

Instead of scavenging lots of sugar-laden Easter eggs this year, why not try something different?

• Use plastic eggs in your hunt and make the end prize a toy/game or teddy as the grand prize?

• Use sugar-free sweets as prizes and treats

• Swap milk chocolate for Dark chocolate

• Make a fun-filled Easter hamper, including pens and colouring, Easter crafts, and puzzles

• Get crafty - Paint hard-boiled eggs, a timeless classic enjoyed by all the family!

Avoid sticky candy and sweets, stick to chocolate

Avoid sticky, sour, and hard candies this Easter. Sticky sweets are called that for a reason: they literally stick to your teeth. Remnants of sticky sweets and caramels are difficult to remove, even with diligent brushing and flossing. The remaining bits of sweet can cause rapid tooth decay.

Chocolate treats can easily be washed away by drinking a glass of water or milk, and unlike other candy that is sticky, gooey, and hard, chocolate doesn’t linger as long on your teeth.