Halloween is coming up soon this month, which means for many children Halloween candy. With the lifestyle changes due to COVID and how many people are going to be participating in Halloween, you’re most likely going to see much less candy in your kids hands, which is a good start overall for their health. However, it’s still good to have a plan about what to do with all the candy they do receive on Halloween.
Best Time to Eat Candy During the Day
If you’re trying to mitigate the most damage to your teeth, the best time to eat sugary foods is with meals or shortly after your last meal. Saliva production is at an all time high during meals and helps cancel out the damaging acids produced by the bacteria in your mouth and washes the food and acid away.
10 Things to Remember with Candy
- Don’t make it a snack. You’ll be too hungry and end up eating far too much candy than your body can balance.
- Avoid hard candies. The longer candy stays in your mouth, the more time the sugar has to increase the risk of tooth decay.
- Avoid sticky candies like taffy, gummies, and tootsie rolls that get trapped in your mouth and are much harder to rinse out.
- Drink plenty of water. Water is your best defense against sugary snacks. Fluorinated water also helps reduce tooth decay.
- Maintain a healthy diet. If your overall diet is healthy, candy will have much more difficulty in damaging your teeth and gums.
- Avoid sodas and sugary drinks.
- Chew sugarless gum to increase saliva, neutralize the acid, and wash it out of your mouth.
- Brush at least twice daily for two minutes at a time with a fluoride toothpaste to improve protection against tooth decay.
- Floss regularly and get between the teeth after every sweet treat.
- Visit the dentist regularly!
The best thing you can do this year is to spend more time doing fun Halloween activities such as carving pumpkins, doing coloring activities, and decorating. Halloween fun doesn’t have to be just about the candy.
