Who doesn’t love candy at Halloween? If your kids are like mine, they’re going to come home from trick-or-treating with tons of candy. Sugary candy can lead to tooth decay, but following these simple steps can help you and your children have a fun Halloween without the nightmare of harming their teeth in the process.

1. Don’t let your kids gorge on Halloween candy all night. Teaching your kids moderation on Halloween is important.
2. Monitor that your children are brushing their teeth three times a day.
3. Make sure that your children use an age-appropriate fluoridated mouthwash every evening.
4. Have extra disposable dental flossers laying all over the house. You’d be amazed at what kids will do when their bored.
5. Avoid or limit candy such as caramels, candy corn, jelly beans, and taffy. These particular candies are extra sticky, making it hard for saliva to wash away the sugar.
6. Give your kids sugar free gum to chew. Not only does sugar-free gum help prevent cavities,  it also helps neutralize the effects of sugar from the candy. Therefore, it combats the bacteria in plaque that causes cavities.

Halloween is a fun holiday and you shouldn’t have to worry about things like tooth decay. By practicing good oral hygiene and using moderation, your kids can have a fun and safe Halloween and still enjoy the candy!

Wayzata Dental

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 8:02 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.