Plymouth Dentist Gives Post-Halloween Tooth Care Tips

We had more trick-or-treaters than ever come to our Plymouth dentist office this year for our annual Great Candy Trade-In! The kids donated a whopping 144 pounds of candy to the Ronald McDonald House for to use in coming months for their programming. We saw lots of happy moms and dads who were happy to get the extra candy out of their homes and tooth care tips, as well as many kids who were willing to part with the candy booty in exchange for a dollar and a raffle ticket for each pound and a pack of sugarless gum.

Congratulations to our raffle winners...

• Lake M. of Albertville won a $10 Dairy Queen gift card
• Hannah D. of Minnetonka also won a $10 Dairy Queen gift card
• Dalton S. or Plymouth won a $15 iTunes gift card
• Piper L. of Plymouth won a $20 AMC movie ticket gift card

Dental Tooth Care Tips For After You Eat

In addition to the kind gesture that the annual event promotes, we also hope to reinforce with our young patients and friends the importance of taking care of your teeth. It is okay to have a candy treat now and then, but be intentional about taking care of your teeth.

1. Brush Your Teeth - Of course the best option is to brush your teeth after you eat. The mechanical motion of brushing your teeth and flossing removes the food particles stuck between your teeth as well as the plaque and bacteria. Ideally you should wait 20 minutes for the acid level in your mouth to neutralize so that the enamel of your teeth will not be compromised.
2. Drink A Glass of Water - If brushing is not possible, we recommend rinsing your mouth with a glass of water. In addition to loosening any extra food particles, the water will also help to neutralize the acidity of your mouth.
3. Chew A Piece of Sugarless Gum - We gave each of our trick-or-treaters a pack of either Trident or Orbit gum with the explanation of the benefits of chewing a piece of gum with the ingredient xylitol. Not only does chewing a piece of gum help to remove food particles that are left in or between teeth, but chewing gum helps to stimulate the flow of saliva to neutralize your mouth and xylitol actually helps to inhibit the bacteria that causes the decay that causes cavities. A sugarless mint with xylitol is a good option, too.

Download Free Tooth Care Tips

For more information about taking care of your kids' teeth, download this free tooth care guide, "Ten Tooth Care Tips For Kids".