Maintain Healthy Smiles This Halloween

Halloween offers the perfect time to throw a party, dress up in your favorite costumes, enjoy trick-or-treating with the kids, and spend time with family. Of course, those yummy treats are a big part of the holiday, and you can find candy nearly everywhere around Halloween – in the store, at work, at parties, and even on your neighbor’s front porch. While it’s definitely enjoyable to indulge your sweet tooth, overdoing it with Halloween treats can be frightening for your teeth and gums. The good news – you don’t have to ban the holiday or the candy, but there are a few tricks you can follow to maintain healthy smiles this Halloween.

Don’t Graze on Halloween Candy

You probably can’t entirely avoid the candy, but you definitely want to avoid grazing on candy throughout the day or multiple days after Halloween. Go ahead and enjoy several pieces on the holiday and then get back to your healthier eating habits. If you graze on the candy off and on through your day and continue doing so for the next week or two, then your teeth are regularly coming into contact with sugar, increasing your chance of developing a cavity.

Rinse with Water After Indulging in Candy

When you do indulge in a bit of Halloween candy, make sure that you rinse your mouth thoroughly with water when you’re done. It’s essential to avoid brushing your teeth right away, particularly if you’re eating sour candies or other things that are acidic. Brushing immediately can actually erode your tooth enamel. Rinsing with water will help to neutralize the acidic foods and flush some of the food particles off your teeth. Then after about 30 minutes go ahead and make sure you brush your teeth well. It’s especially important to make sure you brush well before you go to bed so you get the sugar off your teeth before you go to sleep.

Consider Going with More Non-Sugary Treats This Year

If you have kids and you want to do their smile a favor, consider going with more non-sugary treats this year. This doesn’t mean that you have to skip the candy altogether but consider limiting the candy and having other non-sugary treats like temporary tattoos, play-doh, wiggly spider rings, stickers, pencils, spooky eyeballs, glow sticks, and erasers. These are all fun, festive treats that kids will appreciate, and you’ll be protecting their healthy smiles by limiting the sugar.

Avoid the Really Bad Candies

Go ahead and enjoy some of that candy, but it’s best to steer clear of the really bad sweets to maintain healthy smiles. Some candies are worse than others for your teeth. Gummy and sticky candies can be particularly damaging to teeth, and they can be bad news if you wear braces, too. Hard candies that stay in your mouth for a long time are also a poor choice because they take so long to dissolve. Sour candies can also be a problem because they may be acidic. One of the better options is chocolate, particularly dark chocolate. Chocolates melt quickly and don’t stick to your teeth as much as other types of candy.

Head in for a Routine Cleaning After Halloween

Since you’re probably going to enjoy some treats as you celebrate Halloween, consider heading to your dentist for a professional cleaning after the holiday. You can have a routine checkup as well to make sure you don’t have any problems, and a professional cleaning will be the perfect thing after indulging in those sweets. You’ll love how clean your teeth feel when you’re done.

Don’t restrict yourself from enjoying all the fun of Halloween. Enjoy dressing up and enjoy a bit of candy. Just make sure you remember good dental hygiene and try to avoid the worst treats if possible. Enjoy the festivities while taking measures to maintain your healthy smiles so you don’t have any scary, spooky surprises when you see your Ponte Vedra dentist next.