With the warm weather and sunny days come many of the pleasures of summer. Your children may be whiling away their time at the pool, riding their bikes or participating in team sports. Of course, there are also ice cream cones and other sweet treats to enjoy! While the joys of summer should be relished, there are some precautions you should take to help protect your kids’ teeth during all of the activities.
Keep Up Their Dental Routine
Summertime can mean later bedtimes, s’mores eaten around a fire, and backyard campouts. While no one is going to perish from forgetting to floss one night, neglecting their dental routine, especially the one before bed, can boost your children’s odds of developing dental cavities. Even when the kids come inside all sticky and drowsy, get them to brush and floss. Also, make some time in your busy summer schedule to visit the dentist if they’re due for cleanings and checkups!
Protect Their Teeth While They’re Outside
Kids often want to be daredevils at the pool, which is a safety hazard in itself. Fooling around on the slippery pool deck or at the edge of the swimming pool can lead to falls, and some types of falls can lead to chipped front teeth!
It’s also important for children to be careful on bicycles, roller skate and skateboards. For any of these sports performed outdoors, they should wear helmets, and if they’ll be outside on roller skates or a skateboard, they should wear mouthguards.
Don’t Forget About Organized Sports
Whether they’re playing sandpit baseball or sparring at tae kwon do, it’s important for kids of all ages to wear mouthguards. Any type of sport that includes contact or a fast-moving ball can cause dental damage. This is easily avoided with the use of an inexpensive mouthguard; you can buy one at a pharmacy or have your dentist custom-fabricate one.
Moderate the Sweets
The suggestion your kids will probably bristle at the most is pretty important: Moderate their consumption of sweets. Summer is a great time to enjoy ice cream, popsicles, toasted marshmallows, root beer floats and gummi bears, but eating too many sweets can cause cavities. Try to let your kids eat their daily allotment at one time, then brush their teeth afterwards, rather than space out sweet treats all day long.
By keeping your child’s teeth in mind as you navigate the summer, you can avoid painful and expensive dental work come fall. Give our office a call if your kids are due for dental appointments or if you have any questions or concerns!
