Children Eating Candy
The holiday’s can present a very scary time of year for any parent concerned about their child’s oral health, since your kids will probably be eating a lot of candy during this time. But should you let them immediately gorge themselves on the candy and get it out of their system?
Temple University pediatric dentist Mark Helpin thinks that might not be such a bad idea.
“The frequency of eating candy, and other refined carbohydrates, and their stickiness, are big factors in creating the risk of dental caries (cavities),” he said.
Eating carbohydrates can change the pH balance of the mouth, making it more acidic, which can increase the risk of cavities. Each time candy is eaten, the acid environment in the mouth can take up to an hour to dissipate.
“If I eat a piece of candy now, the pH in my mouth will become acidic, and it will take 30-60 minutes for it to become normal,” said Helpin. “If I eat 2 or 3 pieces of candy when I eat that first one, my mouth stays acid the same length of time that it would if I ate just that single piece. It’s still 30-60 minutes. If I keep eating candy throughout the day, there is acid in my mouth for a much longer period of time. The longer teeth are in an acid environment, the greater the risk they will become decayed.”
Helpin, the acting chair of pediatric dentistry at Temple’s Maurice H. Kornberg School of Dentistry, says that there are a number of ways parents can minimize this risk while still letting their children enjoy the holiday.
Cavities in Children
“Parents can let kids eat a bunch [of candy] now and a bunch later. But don’t let them have one piece now, then an hour later let them have another piece,” he said, adding that candy can also be dispensed as a dessert or snack.
Meals are a good time at which to have treats as dessert because the production of saliva increases, which helps to wash away acidity in the mouth. Helpin also recommends that parents have their children brush their teeth after eating candy, or if that’s not possible, tell their children to rinse their mouth with water three or four times after eating, which will help reduce acidity in the mouth.
Helpin warns that substituting small bags of chips or pretzels for candy doesn’t solve the cavity problem, either.
“Chips and pretzels are also carbohydrates and they also will create an acid environment that can create cavities,” he says. “These treats and snacks get stuck on your teeth, and that’s the stickiness factor,” he said.
Ultimately, “it’s not realistic to think you can tell your child you can’t have candy, cookies, cakes, or other treats,” says Helpin. “Those are the things most people enjoy — and we want our kids to enjoy life.”
For more information contact Dr. Todd Welch with West Tennessee Periodontics and Dental Implants at www.wtnperio.com or you can leave a comment in the section below. Thanks for reading !!
No Responses to “Holiday Candy: Frequency, Not Amount, Raises Cavity Risk”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks