Halloween usually means one thing: candy! While candy is a fun treat, it's important to be extra vigilant about oral hygiene at this time of year, to keep your oral health on track. Here are 5 tips from our dentists for a healthy smile this year!
Practice moderation.
At Clayburn Dental, we believe that practicing moderation is the key to keeping your smile healthy during Halloween. This means it's fine to enjoy candy as an occasional treat, but you still want to make sure that you and your kids are eating healthy the majority of the time.
So, make sure to pack lots of healthy fruits and veggies in your kids' lunches, and try not to loot their candy stash too often throughout the day yourself!
Choose your candy wisely.
While there isn't really such a thing as candy that's good for your teeth, there is certain candy that you should be extra careful to try to limit or avoid altogether.
Candies that are extra sticky, such as gummy bears, taffy and toffee, have a way of clinging to teeth for a long time.
You may also want to limit things like hard candies and bubblegum, because they also stick to your teeth and gums for a long period of time. This gives bacteria and plaque more opportunity to thrive.
Monitor candy consumption.
One of the best parts of trick-or-treating for kids is digging into their hard-earned candy stash when they get home! There's no need to prevent them from doing this, but try to keep it under control. Let them choose a designated number of treats to enjoy on Halloween night, and then ration out the remaining candy over the following weeks.
Take extra care when brushing and flossing.
Monitor your kids' brushing and flossing during this time of year to make sure they really are carefully cleaning each tooth. You might also want to consider investing in electric toothbrushes for your family, for thorough cleaning of teeth and gums.
Provide healthy alternatives.
As mentioned above, candy is an important part of Halloween, but it's not the only treat worth enjoying at this time of year.
With a quick Google search, you'll find all sorts of fun, oral-health friendly, Halloween-inspired treats, snacks and meal ideas. Here are a few of our favourites:
Roasted Pumpkin Seeds 5 Ways | The Spruce Eats
Eyeball Soup | Martha Stewart
Meatball-Stuffed Pasta Brain | The Food Network
Vampire Blood Tomato Soup with Muenster Sammies | The Food Network
Tangerine Pumpkins and Banana Ghosts | Weelicious.com
Don't forget! Our Annual Halloween Buy-Back Event is on November 1 & 2
On November 1 and 2, you can help support a wonderful local charity! Simply drop by Clayburn Dental with your child's unwanted or extra Halloween Candy, and the practice will buy it at $2 per pound up to $20. All collected candy will be donated to a local charity in the community.