Sweet Treat Alternatives For Summer

Kid & Teeth Friendly :)
 

Summer has arrived in Sydney and with it comes the festive season and the temptations of sweet and cool treats. It’s easy to reach for the more visible and tempting options like ice creams and ice blocks. But while the occasional indulgence in such things is probably OK, a summer filled with sticky, sugary, sweets is not a great idea. It's not great for a kid's overall health and it's certainly not very good for anyone’s diet.  

Knowing all of this is one thing and putting it into practice without having to deal with a lot of moaning and groaning is quite another. There are however plenty of healthier, and yet still scrumptious, treats that are kinder to our teeth. Here's a quick look at just five of our favorites.

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‘One Ingredient’ Banana Ice Cream

One of the ideal replacements for sticky sweets is fruit. Did you know you can make creamy banana ice cream with just a single ingredient? It's actually very easy. Chop semi ripe bananas into largish chunks and then freeze them solid (which will take about two hours) Next, pop them all in a blender, blend until smooth and, without the need for any added sugar at all you can serve an 'ice cream' treat that's surprisingly close to the 'real thing'.
 

Frozen Grapes

An old fave! Turning to the freezer again, if you freeze some juicy fresh grapes after a couple of hours you'll have chilly - but pretty healthy - balls of cooling natural sweetness that make a great alternative to sugar packed, sticky boiled sweets. Freeze both green and red grapes and they'll look pretty cool in the bowl when you serve them up.
 

Strawberry Yoghurt Bites

And this one is our new fave. While getting your daily helping of both fruits and dairy you also get the pleasure of this rich, creamy and cool treat.Frozen yoghurt strawberry bites can be easily prepared in just a few seconds. Pop some vanilla yoghurt in to brownie trays, place a whole strawberry in to each mould and freeze!
 

Frozen Greek Yogurt Buttons

This one's easy too. Blend together a pot of plain Greek yogurt with a handful of the fresh fruit of your choice until nice and creamy. Drop spoon sized dollops of the mixture onto a lined baking tray and freeze. To make things even more fun for the kids add a few drops of food colouring into the mixture as well, for a tasty rainbow coloured treat.
 

Pineapple Cooler

This one can be either a nice slushy-style drink for the kids or add a little vodka to make it a nice cocktail. Not only is it creamy and delicious but it’s a huge immune boost which is packed full of vitamin C.

Blend the following  to make this cool summer treat:

• 1 cup fresh pineapple

• 1 banana

• 1 cup orange juice

• 1 cup ice cubes 

• 3/4 cup Water

• 1/2 cup coconut milk

• (Alcohol if desired)

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Emergency Dentist Sydney Says:

Treat yourself this Sydney summer with all of the healthy treats you and your friends and family deserve.

Does a Toothache Always Equal an Extraction?

Here's The Rundown

You've been up half the night thanks to the pain from that nagging aching tooth. Come to think of it, you were up half of the night before as well. Painkillers from the local chemists aren't even touching the pain anymore and you know you really should book an appointment with a dentist ASAP. But you don't like needles and pain, you're not even that fond of dentists and you really don't want to go through a tooth extraction. So you're stalling...

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But does toothache equal extraction automatically? The answer is a little more complicated than you might think...

What's Causing the Pain?
Before you start ringing around dentists in Sydney asking about tooth extraction pricing it's important to understand one thing; tooth pain has lots of different causes and they don't all mean that the first thing a dentist is going to want to do is yank the offending tooth out. In fact, it's probably the last thing they want to do as they actually spent all of those years in dental school learning to save teeth rather than just do extraction after extraction.

Alternatives to Tooth Extraction
Because there are lots of different reasons a tooth might be giving you trouble, there are also lots of ways to treat these problems. If a cavity is the culprit then a simple filling may be the answer. If it's actually a gum infection - something that's more common than you might think - then a good deep cleaning and a course of antibiotics often works wonders. A tooth extraction is not even the automatic recommendation when the pain involves wisdom teeth, whatever you might have been told.  And the pain may not really even be coming from a tooth at all.

Getting to the Root of the Problem
As we mentioned, the real key to getting to the root of the problem when it comes to a toothache is a careful, considered dental examination. This will often involve taking x-rays   and a chat about your past dental history as well as a routine exam. Only then can a dentist figure out what's really going on and present a patient with their treatment recommendations and options.

Isn't It Just Easier to Get a Bad Tooth Out?
In some cases, the problem that's really been causing a nasty toothache may come along with several different possible treatments options and yes, one of them might be extraction and that may sound like it's the quickest, easiest and possibly least expensive way to go.

However, before you choose that option based on time or money, listen carefully to what your dentist as to say. Every tooth in your head is there for a reason, even those pesky wisdom teeth, and if it's no longer there may very well be downsides you don't really won't 'get' until it's too late and the tooth is gone for good.

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The #EmergencyDentist Says:

Don't automatically assume that an aching tooth is one that's going to have to come out. Give us a ring, come in for an appointment after hours, or when needed, and we'll work out the best course of treatment for you and your tooth.

Don't forget to checkout our Dental Emergency Care Tips if you're experiencing discomfort.

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