Want to make Halloween a bit less frightening? Just a bit less, mind you! After all, Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without ghosts, witches, skeletons, and the whole ghoulish crew.
But while the eerily unexpected is half the fun of Halloween in Highland, IN, unexpected dental problems are no fun at all. That’s why we’ve come up with some fiendishly clever ideas to help you enjoy Halloween treats without tricky consequences.
Beware These Bites
You don’t need a crystal ball to decide which treats are the most sinister for your dental health—hard, sticky, and sour candies are frightful choices for good reasons.
- Hard candies, jawbreakers, lollipops, candied apples, and other candies with hard surfaces take a long time to dissolve in your mouth, exposing your teeth to sugar over a longer period. Even worse, you may be tempted to bite down on them, which can lead to chipped and cracked teeth.
- Sticky and chewy candies like gummies, candy corn, jellybeans, caramels, and fruit chews stick to your enamel and between your teeth, again exposing your teeth to more sugar over a longer period.
- Sour candies, whether they take the form of hard candy, gummies, chews, or straws, are especially bad for your enamel. Candies are sour because of their acidity, and acids erode enamel strength. Weak spots on the tooth surface are the first stage of cavity development.
Avoid Unnerving Orthodontic Events
If you wear braces, eating the wrong treats can come back to haunt you. Chewy foods can pull a bracket right off your tooth. Hard and crunchy foods break wires and brackets. Sticky foods pull on your braces and can be hard to brush away.
Damaged braces mean extra trips to the orthodontist for repair, and can even delay your treatment if the damage is significant and you can’t see your orthodontist right away. Eek!
Instead, talk to Dr. Rick Johns about which foods are safe options. Treats like peanut butter cups, mint patties, soft chocolate bars without nuts, and other braces-friendly options will let you enjoy a sweet Halloween night without braces-frightful consequences.
If you wear aligners, always remove your aligners whenever you eat to protect them from warping, cracking, bending, and staining. If you go out, remember to bring your protective case. The night’s no fun if your aligners have *disappeared* at the end of the evening.
And don’t let the time get away from you! Most aligners need to be worn 20-22 hours each day. While you won’t turn into a pumpkin if you party too long without your aligners, you could delay your orthodontic progress if you don’t get your scheduled hours in regularly.
Timely Treating
We can’t wave a wand to vanish cavities, so prevention is key. When you enjoy holiday treats (or any desserts), it’s good idea to eat them in moderation and with a meal. This way, your teeth are exposed to sugars and acids over a limited period. And, as you eat, saliva production increases, which helps neutralize destructive acids and wash away food particles before they can harm your enamel.
Water Works Like Magic!
Water has many bewitching qualities.
- Healthy hydration supports healthy oral tissues and saliva production.
- Water contains no sugars or acids which can damage enamel.
- Drinking water is a great choice if you wear braces, because water helps wash food particles from brackets and wires when you can’t brush.
- Water is the only good beverage choice if you’re wearing aligners. Sugary and acidic beverages which collect in your trays bathe your teeth in those sugars and acids. Some darker drinks can stain your aligners—and your teeth!
Vanishing Food Particles and Plaque
Halloween is meant to be extra. And brushing and flossing are extra important this time of year to make sticky, sugary food particles and plaque disappear ASAP.
Make sure you brush for two minutes at least twice each day and floss once a day to prevent extra Halloween sugars from lurking around your teeth and gums. In fact, it’s a good idea to brush soon after any sugary treat to deprive cavity-causing bacteria of their favorite source of nourishment.
Proactive dental care isn’t magic. Communication and effort are all it takes! Talk to your dental team at Rick Johns Dental about the best way to celebrate Halloween without conjuring up problems for your teeth and gums. And when you’re out sharing your holiday spirit, don’t forget to treat your friends to your boo-tiful, healthy smile!
