Meyer & Johns Dental Blog

Advice and Education on Your Dental Health

Halloween Perils

The leaves are falling, the wind is blowing, and little ghouls & goblins (and princesses and superheroes) are soon to be making the rounds. Halloween can be a lot of fun, of course—parties, trick-or-treating, dressing up—but it’s also probably the worst time of the year for your dental health.

Halloween candy is a delicious treat, but it can be a nasty trick you unwittingly play on your teeth.

Halloween Candy - delicious but bad for your teethThe worst candies you can eat are the sticky, chewy candies like caramels for example. The candy sticks to the teeth for a long time, giving the cavity-forming bacteria in your mouth longer to cause cavities, and they are known to pull off crowns and fillings.

– Dr. Meyer

Keep Teeth Safe This Halloween

Sure, Halloween candy can be bad for your teeth, but just a couple common-sense steps can make a big difference in limiting—or even preventing—the damage before it begins.

Monitor candy intake.

Be sure you know when your kids are eating candy. For example, don’t let them keep candy in their rooms to be eaten after bedtime tooth brushing. Limit how much candy your kids eat in a day—sugar is hard on more than just your teeth—and be sure they keep their teeth clean. (Which leads to our next suggestion.)

Up your brushing regimen.

A little extra brushing never hurts. Kids want a treat? Make a post-treat brushing part of the deal. Additional attention to keeping teeth clean (including flossing) will go a long way towards keeping teeth healthy. A big glass of water after a treat helps too.

Our Favorite Treats

(Yes, dentists enjoy treats too.)

What’s your favorite Halloween treat?

  • Meyer: My favorite Halloween treat is a caramel apple.
  • Johns: Reece’s peanut butter cups or Snickers.

How do you care for your teeth after you indulge?

  • Meyer: I will brush my teeth as soon as possible after eating the caramel apple. If not able to do that, I will at the least rinse with water thoroughly.
  • Johns: After some serious candy consumption I always just make sure to scrub my teeth extra long and go over every part of each tooth many times over. I do love Halloween and all that comes with it. Can’t wait to snag a few pieces from my kids stash. Good times.

Have fun this Halloween, but be sure to remember your teeth!