Child Eats Too Much Candy? Why This Causes Cavities, How The Cavities Are Treated, And How To Prevent This Problem

Dentist Blog

If your child eats too much candy on a regular basis, this can damage their teeth. This problem can also be much worse around Halloween, especially if your child gets a lot of candy. The most obvious problem that results from this is dental cavities. Below is the reason candy causes cavities, how the dentist will treat the cavities, and what your child can do in the future to prevent this problem from coming back again.

Develop Cavities

Your child's mouth is full of bacteria just about all the time. If your child eats a lot of candy, the sugar from the candy feeds on the bacteria, causing the sugar to stick to your child's teeth. Once this happens, tiny holes will develop, and over time these holes will become much larger. This is when tooth cavities develop.

Sugar also causes acid to build up on teeth. This acid will cause the enamel on your child's teeth to break down, which can also cause cavities to develop.

Cavity Treatment

To determine that your child has cavities, a dental hygienist will clean their teeth. Once the teeth are clean, the dentist will come in and closely inspect your child's teeth. During this inspection, they look for many problems, such as problems with bite, crooked teeth, and cavities.

If the dentist finds cavities, you will make another appointment to bring your child back to have the cavities filled.

Fillings are made of gold, silver, porcelain, and amalgam. Out of these four, silver is the strongest and will last the longest. There are also plastic composite materials that can be used that are the same color of your child's teeth. This makes the fillings less noticeable.

Cavity Prevention

The first thing to do is to cut back on how much candy your child eats. There is also sugar-free candy that is much better. Purchase a good fluoride mouthwash for your child to use every night after they brush and floss their teeth. The fluoride will help protect your child from developing further cavities.

Your child should brush and floss each morning and each night before they go to bed. If possible, they should brush their teeth after they eat lunch. If your child has never flossed their teeth before, their dentist can show them how to properly do this

Talk with your child's dentist to get more information about cavities, as well as other tooth problems your child may develop.

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22 October 2018

Improving My Dental Appointments

After dealing with a few root canals, I realized that it was time to take my dental hygiene a more seriously. I talked with my dentist about what I could do differently, and he was full of great suggestions that would help. He walked me through different ways to brush, floss, and take care of tartar buildup, and it was really amazing to see the difference that it made. I also started taking a fluoride supplement to strengthen my enamel. When I made it to my next appointment, my dentist was blown away with the improvement. This blog is all about improving your dental appointments by keeping your teeth healthier.