Many of us have find memories of the bell ringing to mark the end of the summer term and the start of the holidays, but the summer holidays can be troublesome for children’s teeth. This summer, make sure your children have the time of their life, rather than worrying about toothache or having to visit the dentist with painful abscesses or cavities, and organise a check-up for your child.

The summer holidays are a great opportunity for families to spend time together, have fun, get out and about and relax, but a long period of time off school can have its problems, especially for the teeth and gums. The holidays are synonymous with treats, which can spell trouble for little teeth.

Healthy eating advice for parents

Diet plays a really important role in children’s oral health and unfortunately, many children tend to go a bit crazy in the holidays and indulge in all kinds of sweet treats, from chocolate bars and sweeties to ice lollies and ice creams. Most of us like sweets, but they are incredibly damaging to the teeth and if you are planning to treat your child this summer, try to restrict their consumption of sugary foods to mealtimes.  Eating sugary snacks and drinking fizzy drinks between meals means that the teeth are under constant attack; when you eat sugary foods or drinks, the bacteria in plaque releases harmful plaque acids, which erode the protective tooth enamel.

Try to encourage your children to eat healthy foods; you can encourage children to eat healthily by making cooking and food preparation fun, getting them involved and talking to them about the benefits their meals and snacks have for their body.

Some ‘healthy’ drinks and snacks are harmful for the teeth and many parents are unaware that the drinks they are buying their children are actually doing more harm than good. Fruit juices and smoothies often contain a lot of sugar and many are also acidic, which causes problems for the tooth enamel. Try to stick to sugar-free juices and avoid drinking smoothies and fruit juice between meals.

Check-ups

The summer holidays are the ideal time to book a check-up for your child; with so much time off, there are plenty of opportunities to arrange a check-up without the child having to miss out on valuable school hours. Check-ups only last a few minutes, they are completely painless and they enable dentists to check that your child’s mouth is healthy. At Dublin18 Dental Care near Cornelscourt we recommend 6 monthly check-ups for children from the age of 12 months old. Check-ups enable dentists to identify problems, such as cavities, as early as possible and this means that treatment can be arranged before the situation gets worse, preventing children from suffering from dental pain.