Want to make Halloween a bit less frightening? Just a bit less, mind you! After all, Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without ghosts, witches, skeletons, and the whole ghoulish crew.
But while the eerily unexpected is half the fun of Halloween in Vorhees, unexpected dental problems are no fun at all. That’s why we’ve come up with some fiendishly clever ideas to help your child enjoy Halloween treats without tricky consequences.
Beware These Bites
You don’t need a crystal ball to decide which treats are the most sinister for your family’s dental health—hard, sticky, and sour candies are frightful choices for good reason.
- Hard candies, jawbreakers, lollipops, candied apples, and other candies with hard surfaces take a long time to dissolve in the mouth, exposing teeth to sugar over a longer period. Even worse, children may be tempted to bite down on them, which can lead to chipped and cracked teeth.
- Sticky and chewy candies like gummies, candy corn, jellybeans, caramels, and fruit chews stick to enamel and between the teeth, again exposing teeth to more sugar over a longer period.
- Sour candies, whether they take the form of hard candy, gummies, chews, or straws, are especially bad for tooth enamel. Candies are sour because of their acidity, and acids erode enamel strength. Weak spots on the tooth surface are the first stage of cavity development.
Avoid Unnerving Orthodontic Events
If your child wears braces, eating the wrong treats can have haunting results. Chewy foods can pull a bracket right off a tooth. Hard and crunchy foods break wires and brackets. Sticky foods pull on braces and can be hard to brush away. Damaged braces mean extra trips to the orthodontist for repair, and can even delay treatment if the damage is significant and you can’t see your child’s orthodontist right away. Eek!
Instead, talk to Drs. Paul Pasternack, Chara Pasternack, and Christine Biondi about which foods are safe options for kids with braces. Treats like peanut butter cups, mint patties, soft chocolate bars without nuts, and other braces-friendly options will let your child enjoy a sweet Halloween night without braces-frightful consequences.
For those family members with aligners, reinforce your orthodontist’s instructions. Remove aligners before eating to prevent warping, bending, and cracking. Only drink water while wearing aligners. And, of course, be sure to bring their protective case for any outings. Halloween night’s no fun if those aligners have *disappeared* at the end of the evening.
Timely Treating
We can’t wave a wand to vanish cavities, so prevention is key. When your family enjoys holiday treats (or any desserts), it’s good idea to eat them in moderation and with a meal. This way, the teeth are exposed to sugars and acids over a limited period. And, as you eat, saliva production increases, which helps neutralize destructive acids and wash away food particles before they can harm enamel.
Water Works Like Magic!
Water has many bewitching qualities.
- Healthy hydration supports healthy oral tissues and saliva production.
- Water contains no sugars or acids which can damage enamel.
- Drinking water is a great choice when a family member wears braces, because water helps wash food particles from brackets and wires when brushing isn’t possible.
- Water is the only good beverage choice when someone in the family has aligners. Sugary and acidic beverages which collect in the trays bathe the teeth in those sugars and acids. Some darker drinks can stain aligners—and teeth!
Vanishing Food Particles and Plaque
Halloween is meant to be extra. And brushing and flossing are extra important this time of year to make sticky, sugary food particles and plaque disappear ASAP.
Make sure your child brushes for two minutes at least twice each day and flosses once a day to prevent extra Halloween sugars from lurking around teeth and gums. In fact, it’s a good idea to brush soon after any sugary treat to deprive cavity-causing bacteria of their favorite source of nourishment.
Proactive dental care isn’t magic. Communication and effort are all it takes! Talk to your pediatric dental team at Pasternack Pediatric Dental about the best way to celebrate Halloween without conjuring up problems for your child’s teeth and gums. After all, the best part of Halloween is the boo-tiful, healthy smiles which come with every “Trick or Treat!”