How to Survive Halloween Candy for Your Family

As your Centennial Prosthodontist, we would like to offer some timely advice about the types of Halloween candy children should be allowed to eat after a night of trick-or-treat pleasure this Halloween. By the way, if you're an adult who enjoys indulging your sweet tooth, you will also benefit from this advice about the safest candy for your teeth.

Halloween Candy

• Hard Candy – Because hard candy takes longer to eat, the sugar it contains stays in your mouth longer, creating more opportunity for the sugar it contains to coat your teeth, potentially damaging the enamel on your teeth.
• Chewy Candy – Like hard candy, remains in your mouth longer, which can lead to increased chances of tooth decay.
• Children with Braces – Anyone wearing braces, whether kids or adults, should be especially careful when eating candy, since there is a much greater chance of the sugar staying in place and harming their teeth. Adults or kids with braces should avoid candies that are hard and crunch, or that are soft and chewy.

BONUS TIP: Chocolate Candy is Good Candy

Easily your best choice, chocolate candy melts quickly, is easily swallowed, and contains tannins, compounds that don't allow bacteria to grow. Chocolate also has some nutritional value, which means you can more safely indulge. WOO HOO, Chocolate is GOOD!

Halloween is a particularly difficult time of year to limit your children’s access to candy. In fact, since many adults also enjoy the rewards of a night out bagging sweets with their kids, it can seem impossible to avoid a sweet-fest for the entire family. After all, it’s only one night a year, so how much harm can it do?

Quite a bit, now that you mention it.

With all of this in mind, you can use Halloween to reinforce your children’s oral health training, with these easy steps:

• Twice each day, and particularly each night, your child should get into this tooth-cleaning routine: (a) floss, (b) brush, (c) use a fluoride rinse. Flossing loosens debris from in between teeth, and the toothbrush gets the excess on the surface. The rinse gets back in the crevices and fights decay.
• Don't let kids snack on candy between meals. Instead, bundle it with healthy meals - for example, as dessert. This will prevent your kids from eating too much at once.

As you work to monitor your children's eating habits, you should remember that Halloween really isn't all that special. As you do throughout the tear, you should work to ensure your kids eat nutritious, balanced meals every day, and that they stay active throughout the year.

Dr. Dhawan and staff at The Colorado Center for Implant and Prosthetic Dentistry are available to help you determine effective solutions to all of your dental problems. If you would like more information from your Littleton Prosthodontist, please call to make an appointment today.