You scream, I scream, we all scream for Ice cream! It’s national ice cream month!
July is just underway and the temperature is rising. There are many ways to beat the heat this summer, but one of our favorites is enjoying a cold treat. Smile Charlotte is a big fan of Dairy Queen blizzards. Although they will cool you down, not all summer snacks are the best for your teeth. Some problems with cold snacks include tooth sensitivity, brain freeze, and tooth decay.
Have you ever taken that first big sip of a smoothie or milkshake and had shooting pain through a tooth? Tooth sensitivity can be caused by a few things including fractures and cracks, root exposure, grinding your teeth, and teeth whitening products.
All of these are usually preventable with desensitizing toothpaste, bite-guards, or cutting back on whitening treatment.
Here’s A few tips for indulging in the sugary sweet stuff:
- Try to limit the exposure to sugary foods. Eating the sweet treats in a short period of time is much better than long term exposure to drinking or eating these types of food and beverages.
- Brush your teeth, or rinse with water, soon after eating to get the sugar dislodged from the grooves and enamel of the teeth.
- Although it won’t be quite as fun, try avoiding ice creams with added sugary sticky treats, such as caramels, toffees, gummy bears…
These treats are much harder to clean out of the teeth, especially without a toothbrush close by.
