Halloween can be pretty frightening. No, we are not just talking about ghosts, ghouls, and vampires. The genuinely terrifying thought is developing a cavity after indulging in one of your favorite candy-filled holidays. While you may have been under the impression that you have to cut out all candy for the best protection against sugar bugs, we are here to provide you with some excellent tips so you can keep your teeth healthy during Halloween. Time to have your treats and eat them, too!
Some Halloween Prep Tips
You know it’s coming, the holiday filled with jawbreakers, monster-shaped gummies, sticky, blood-colored taffy that tastes like fruit punch. You can picture it now. The best way to avoid a cavity nightmare is to prepare your mind for the best practices of keeping your teeth healthy during Halloween:
- Just say ‘no’ to hard, gummy, or sticky candies. Whether you picked them up at a haunted house or a neighbor dropped them in your bag during trick-or-treating, do not take these home. You can find places to donate candy here, or you can find places in your community. These candies are harder to brush away from your enamel and can get stuck in between teeth, making them prone to tooth decay and cavities. Stick with caramel-free chocolates that can be washed away quickly and don’t linger on the surface of your teeth.
- Don’t leave it lying around. Keeping a candy bowl out on a table, bench, or piano is going to set you and your teeth up for failure. Mindless snacking on candy throughout the day is not beneficial for your dental health or your diet. Instead, eat a couple (1 or 2) pieces after dinner.
- Hydrate while you indulge. Try to have a bottle of water around while you consume your sweet treats. Washing down the sugar and keeping it off your teeth for long periods is a great way to avoid cavity development.
- Stick with a dental routine. In addition to brushing and following at least twice per day as recommended by the American Dental Association, make sure you are also seeing a dentist for regular dental cleanings, exams, and x-rays.
Give Yourself a Break
Have a Kit-Kat (a delicious, non-sticky treat) and give yourself a break. One night of eating candy is not going to ruin the health of your teeth. Just be sure to follow the tips above and reach out to us if you have any questions. Of course, if you do develop a toothache or you happen to give in to temptation and bite down on a jawbreaker only to have part of your tooth fall out, please give us a call or schedule an appointment online.
You can also find more dental health information from our blog. Happy Halloween!