With Easter Sunday just two days away, plenty of kids here in Norfolk, VA are jumping for joy at the thought of the Easter bunny hopping into town. However, despite the amount of joy Easter can bring both adults and children alike, dental implant provider Dr. Foleck and the rest of his staff at The Foleck Center know it can also bring oral health problems.
Now, you might be asking yourself why at this moment, but if you take some time to think about it, we’re sure you will figure out the answer.
Easter. Like many holidays we celebrate in the calendar year, has become centered around the consumption of candy and other sweet treats. its seems many holidays are becoming less about the season and family time they bring and more about food. Easter is no exception to this recurring theme.
However, of you have ever had any kind of restorative dentistry performed, especially dental implants, you should already know how large of a role food can play in your oral health. Too much junk food and too many sweets can lead to needing further tooth replacement therapy down the line. Many implant patients are aware of this, and after having dental implant surgery done, they make healthy changes to their lives in order to maintain their new found oral health.
However, contrary to what many people thing, the changes you make in your life that will help you improve and maintain oral health do not have to be radical. Earth shattering changes. They can be a series of small ones, made on special occasions, that help you maintain oral health a little bit at a time.
Bearing this in mind, we have decided to write an article on one small change you can make to your Easter traditions that will make a large impact on not only your oral health but the oral health of anyone who visits you this Sunday – kids included.
Yes, we know. How can you have Easter without jelly beans? These tiny little candies are about as synonymous with Easter as Christmas trees are with December. However, the hard truth is that jelly beans happen to be one of the worst things you can eat when taking oral health into consideration.
Why?
It all has to do with the composition and consistency of jelly beans. Jelly beans are essentially pure sugar in two forms; the first is a hard outer shell and the second is a gelatinous, sticky center. In both of these forms, this sugar concoction is terrible for your teeth. The main reason being because it is so sticky. When you chew a jelly bean, a large portion of it actually gets caught in the crevices of your teeth. The sticky nature of jelly beans then allows that residue to sit there, on your teeth and gums, for hours.
What’s even worse is the fact that jelly beans are not easily dissolves. This means your saliva cannot wash away the residue stuck in your teeth as quickly as would be healthy. Therefore, the gelatinous, sugar concoction that is a jelly bean sits in your mouth attracting and feeding decay-causing bacteria.
Sorry, readers. This is bad news if you like jelly beans but the truth is out.
After hearing the above facts, many of our patients look up at us with panic in their eyes and ask “Well, what am I supposed to put in the baskets and eggs?”
Our answer? Yogurt covered nuts. You can find these sweet treats at just about any grocery store. Now, don’t get us wrong – just because something is covered in a yogurt coating instead of a hard candy shell or chocolate does not necessarily make it a healthy food. In fact, the yogurt coating used to cover nuts and dried fruit in many mixes has just about as much sugar in it as the coating on a jelly bean. The difference is your saliva’s ability to dissolve it. this means the residue left over is broken down and washed away by your saliva much faster than the residue of a jelly bean. That means less time sitting on your teeth, and less time allowing bacteria to wreak havoc on your oral health.
We hope you found this quick Easter tip as helpful as our families did.
Until next time readers, have a happy Easter and keep smiling.
Adam Foleck
201 College Pl. #111
Norfolk, VA 23510
New Patients:
757-623-0283
Current Patients:
757-623-0283
Monday: 8AM – 6PM
Tuesday: 8AM – 5PM
Wednesday: 8AM – 7PM
Thursday: 7:30AM – 6:30PM
Friday: 8AM – 5PM
Saturday: 9AM – 1PM
Sunday: Closed