Don’t Let Cold and Flu Season Harm Your Child’s Smile This Year

You try to keep your house clean and sanitized, especially during cold and flu season. Maybe everyone in your family, including your child, has already gotten their flu shots as well. However, once they leave the house to go to school, all bets are off. You may still have to battle a cold or the flu this year.

To make a bad situation worse, your child could develop a cavity or two while they are sick. What can be done to prevent this from happening? How can you keep your child’s smile healthy during cold and flu season? Follow these tips!

Keep Your Child Hydrated

You may get some resistance from your child, but it’s essential that they stay hydrated. Fluids, especially water, will help them immensely when it comes to battling a cold or flu virus and also preserving their teeth and gums from oral bacteria. Water rinses bits of food, plaque, and bacteria out of their mouth as well as neutralizes eroding acids that could harm their teeth.

Maintain a Semi-Normal Schedule

Resting is an important part of recovering from a cold or flu, but oral bacteria doesn’t take days off because your little one doesn’t feel well. As a result, you need to keep up certain aspects of their daily schedule, namely a dental hygiene routine. You or they may not want to, but brushing twice and flossing once every day, including on days when your child is sick, can keep cavities or a gum infection from damaging their smile later on.

Try Sugar-Free Remedies

Although cough syrup can reduce symptoms and cough drops can be soothing to a sore throat, they are often very sugary. Honey, another popular remedy for colds, contains natural sugars as well, which can encourage bad oral bacteria to grow. One of these every now and then won’t hurt, but if your child is taking a lot, the chances of decay will increase.

Fortunately, you can find sugar-free options for drops on the market. Plus, there are plenty of other soothing methods that don’t put your child’s smile at risk, such as a humidifier, vapor rub, and cough suppressants in pill form.

Visit the Dentist After They Recover

Obviously, you shouldn’t take your sick child to the dentist’s office. However, when they have fully recuperated, staying on track for their semiannual cleaning and checkup will ensure that any decay that might have developed is caught and addressed as early as possible.

In the end, you may not be able to keep a cold or the flu from getting to your child this year, but you can limit the impact it has on them and their teeth by staying on top of their oral health while they’re sick. That way, months after they recover, you won’t have to deal with a toothache or damaging cavity, which is no fun for anyone!

About the Practice

At Kids Dentist, our four pediatric dentists are dedicated to helping children and their parents preserve growing smiles. Although we are certainly able to provide fillings, crowns, and more advanced treatment, we prefer to avoid these problems through effective preventive care. If your child needs a dental checkup and cleaning or has a cavity that needs to be treated, don’t hesitate to contact our Grayslake office online or call us at 847-223-1400.