Sometimes it feels like barely a month goes by without yet another holiday that passes as an excuse to stuff our faces with sweet treats, and March is no exception. In fact, this month contains probably the worst of all the public holidays when it comes to dental health: Easter.

Somewhere along the line, the true meaning of Easter has been lost and replaced with an overload of chocolate eggs. As adults, it’s not too difficult to avoid temptation at this time of year, but for children it’s nigh on impossible, especially when well-meaning family members are foisting chocolate on them from all angles.

So, what can you do to keep your children’s teeth healthy this Easter? The team at CK Dental practice in Bristol has come up with some top tips…

Have a word with relatives beforehand

Try to pre-empt the chocolate avalanche by speaking to a few of your nearest and dearest about perhaps finding an alternative Easter gift for your kids. It’s probably unrealistic to hope that they won’t be given any chocolate, but there are plenty of other seasonally appropriate gifts that will make children just as happy.

Eke it out

Try to keep some control over how much chocolate your children consume in one go. Of course, the older your children are the more autonomy they will expect to have, but if you are able to dole out chocolate in small portions it will help. It’s also good to supervise them eating sweet things – that way, you can choose when they eat it (after a meal is ideal, as their mouth is already producing saliva to help wash away the sugar) and make sure they have a drink of water to hand to help clean the chocolate remnants off their teeth.

Encourage regular tooth brushing

All the parents who bring their children to see us here at CK Dental practice in Bristol are already pretty vigilant about tooth brushing, but this is especially important at Easter – in fact, if you can get them to brush their teeth half an hour or so after eating chocolate, as well as the usual morning and night routine, that would be ideal.

Happy Easter from all the team here at CK Dental!