West:
West:
When recalling your childhood days, you likely remember Halloween with a sense of nostalgia and excitement as many people do. From dressing up in a chosen costume, to telling spooky stories of ghosts and ghouls, to engaging in some good old fashioned Halloween mischief by trying to scare each other. Halloween is certainly a great time to be a kid! Therefore, it’s no surprise that many parents take great delight in encouraging their kids to take part in this night of thrills and chills!
However, for kids there is perhaps no bigger adventure than that of Trick or Treating, as this tradition of going door to door and accumulating candy, may seem almost sacred among children. Despite being one of the favored aspects of Halloween, when your kiddo brings home that bag full of sugary candy, as a parent you may find yourself a bit concerned about those pearly white teeth of theirs. While Halloween is certainly a time of fun and frights, at Adams Dental Group we certainly don’t want any unwelcome fears putting a damper on you or your kid’s Halloween festivities. Therefore, before that little one of yours puts on their costume and prepares to gather up some goodies, it may be a good idea to know which of these treats are okay for your kid’s teeth, and which ones could increase their risk of developing a cavity because, as we all know: Sugar Hurts Teeth.
While it’s pretty obvious that as sweet as candy is, it’s certainly not the best for your teeth. However, even though we know sugar hurts teeth, what might be less obvious is that certain types of candy are considerably worse for your teeth than others. While some candy types may wash away with simply a good brushing, others may prove difficult to remove, thus possibly leading to cavities. Below is a list of some of the candy types that are relatively harmless, and some of the ones you might want to avoid.
From gummy worms, to dried fruit and taffy, unquestionably some of the worst candy for your teeth has to be the sticky or gummy-types of candy. As they are chewed, this sticky material covers your teeth, while proceeding to get stuck in any gap or crevice it can find. This can lead to a (no pun intended) very sticky situation as removing the material can be quite difficult. However if the sugary substance is not removed, the cavity-causing bacteria will most certainly have ample opportunity to flourish.
Although increasingly popular among kids today, the highly acidic sour candy treats can easily weaken and damage the enamel of your teeth, thus making them more vulnerable to cavities.
Certain types of hard candy, such as jawbreakers, jolly ranchers, or even lollipops, can prove to be problematic for a couple of reasons, the first and perhaps most obvious reason is the fact that biting down on hard surface of the candy may break or cause damage to the tooth. However, another less then obvious reason would be the simple fact that one would likely keep this candy in their mouth for a prolonged period of time, thus causing the excess sugar to get into your saliva, and continue to wash over and continuously coat your teeth.
Easily one of the most popular and beloved candy choices out there, chocolate is also a relatively smart choice regarding one’s teeth due to its ability to be easily removed. While particularly hard or frozen chocolate would certainly be an exception, regular milk chocolate treats are a perfectly safe candy choice, as long as your teeth are properly brushed afterwards.
While sugar-free gum or candy is certainly a much healthier alternative to the regular, unfortunately sugar-free treats have gained something of an unpopular reputation among candy lovers as being a bit bland tasting and therefore less than satisfactory. In recent years however, this has changed as sugar-free candy has improved considerably by using sugar substitutes to become much more flavorful, and thereby much more enjoyable.
Dark chocolate is perhaps one of the absolute best candy selections in terms of oral and general health. Much like the aforementioned regular milk chocolate, dark chocolate can be easily removed from the surface of your teeth, thus making it a preferred choice. However, what makes dark chocolate an even better selection than milk chocolate, is that fact that dark chocolate not only contains significantly less sugar than milk chocolate, but in recent studies, dark chocolate has been shown to help lower blood pressure!
As this spooky fun-filled holiday approaches, we at Adams Dental Group encourage both you and your children to have a blast this Halloween! And if you find yourself worried about your kid’s teeth when snacking on any of the sugary treats above, remember moderation is the key! While its certainly good to keep track of what type of candy they are eating, keep in mind a little candy every now and then is fine as long as it is done in moderation and their teeth are bushed afterwards.
So as you and your family prepare for this exciting time of year, we at Adams Dental Group wish you and your family a happy, safe, and of course cavity-free Halloween!
Travis A. Roberts and his experienced, friendly team at Adams Dental Group offer affordable family dentistry and gentle dental care in the Kansas City, KS area. We have two locations that are conveniently located and offer appointment times Monday through Friday to meet your needs. At Adams Dental Group, we provide most dental services, from family and general dentistry to specialty procedures, including perio planing, dental implants, dentures, endodontic or root canal treatment, teeth whitening, cosmetic dentistry and much more. We accept most dental insurance plans and offer affordable financial solutions for any budget. Call us at our East location (913) 621-3113 or at our West location (913) 296-8030 to schedule an appointment.
Dr. Travis A. Roberts, DDS October 24th, 2017
Posted In: Dental Health Tips
Tags: sugar hurts teeth
