Cough Medicine and Dental Cavities

Now that winter is here, many of us won’t be surprised when our children catch a common cold. Kids are germ magnets and tend to pick these viruses up at preschool, school, daycare, or the playground. Unfortunately, the cough medicine that we rely on to ease our children’s discomfort may be having a negative impact on their dental health.

Most cough syrups contain sucrose and fructose corn syrup, both of which are favorites for the bacteria that live in the mouth. As the bacteria feed, it produces harmful acids that will eat away at the tooth enamel, causing small holes to form. These holes will eventually become dental cavities. Some of these cough medicines can also cause dry mouth, which is hard on the teeth. Saliva balances the pH levels in the mouth and washes away the acid, so a lack of it can cause other problems.

Cough Medicine and Dental Cavities

Luckily there are a few things you can do to make the cold season a little less hard on your child’s teeth. These include:

• Immediately after administering cough medicine to your child, make sure to brush his or her teeth with fluoride toothpaste. This is the best way to fight dental cavities in any situation, by the way!
• Avoid giving your child cough syrup right before bed. The production of saliva is greatly reduced during sleep, and as we mentioned above, dry mouth can lead to the development of dental cavities.
• Lastly, you can offer your child sugar-free gum if he or she is old enough to chew gum. Chewing helps produce saliva and remove debris from the teeth. If you’re able to find gum with Xylitol as a sweetener, even better! Xylitol has been shown to help reduce dental cavities!

Here at Auburn Family Dental, we want all of our patients to have a happy and healthy holiday season! To make an appointment at our Wichita, KS dentist’s office, please call Auburn Family Dental today!