Halloween Candy Monster will always defeat the Braces Monster

This is candy season! Many of our patients are looking forward to going Trick or Treating and they can't wait to eat their fill of candy. 

When choosing which candy to save and which candy to eat, remember that sticky candies like Caramels, Laffy Taffy, Ike and Mikes, Gummy Bears, Jelly Beans and chewing gum will break your braces. Safer candies to eat are ones that are not sticky, are not hard, and get out of your mouth quickly.  Chewing on a hard sour ball will break off brackets and deform arch-wires just like the sticky candies.  In addition, sucking on a candy creates a sugar environment which feeds the bacteria in the mouth so that the bacteria create an acid environment. The acid leaches minerals from the teeth.  This causes white spots and cavities.  A safer candy is a cookie like candy like a Kit Kat Bar, or a thin chocolate bar.  These can be eaten more quickly, and then the sugar can be rinsed out of the mouth with water.

ENJOY YOUR HALLOWEEN.

Happy 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.)