Halloween- reposted from October 31, 2010, and still relevant!

 

Halloween is nearing the end, and all our children will be enjoying their candy tonight. Here are some hints to preserve their teeth:

- Sticky candy will break braces and aggravate TMJ problems. If you are wearing braces or have TMJ/facial pain DO NOT EAT chewing gum, gummy bears, taffy, jelly beans, and other sticky candies. If the candy is hard to bite through, break it into very small pieces before eating it.

- Avoid eating candy that sits on your teeth a long time. A Kit Kat Bar or a Hershey's Kiss will do less damage than a lolly pop or sucking candy.

- Rinsing your mouth with water after eating candy will decrease the risk of white spots and cavities. In addition, spraying your mouth with Carifree spray or sucking a xylitol "candy" will inhibit the bad bacteria (in  your mouth) that have feasted on the sugar you just ate.

- Rinsing with fluoride rinse before bed daily (especially important if candy was eaten that day) will help reverse the damage that candy does to your teeth.

- If there are already white spots (the beginnings of cavities) present, your dentist can use Curodont to help the lesions remineralize (fading the white spots.)