Halloween is slowly sneaking upon us, which means the topic of how much candy to feed children is going to pop up. There are times during the year where it’s ok for a little splurging to occur as long as there is a counteraction occurring. If you are concerned about ensuring your child’s teeth survive the Halloween season, here are a few tips.
Avoid Hard Candy
Hard candy is terrible for a child’s teeth, or for anyone’s teeth for that matter. They can cause teeth to chip or crack, resulting in a visit to the dentist. This can be a costly mistake for both the tooth and your pocketbook. Sort through your child’s candy and remove some of the harder candy to limit the amount they can get their hands on. Teach your child to suck on the hard candies instead and not to chew them. Many kids don’t have the patience for this, which is why it’s often best to remove hard candy altogether.
Drink A Lot of Water
Kids will be consuming more candy than they usually do, during this holiday season. That’s ok as long as it’s not an excessive amount and they’re drinking plenty of water. Water keeps a child’s teeth thoroughly rinsed, ensuring that some of that harmful sugar doesn’t stay clinging to their teeth for an extended period.
Do Some Extra Brushing
Since your child will be eating more candy, it’s not a bad idea to add in an extra brushing time during this season. Instead of just in the morning and at night, add in an extra brushing session midday to counteract any effects that might be occurring from the combined sugar consumption.
Make Trades
If your child is a little older and might fight you on the candy regulation, make trades with them. You still want Halloween to be fun, but you also want to protect your child from harming themselves long term. Have other, safer candy on hand that you know they’ll enjoy and make trade deals with your kids. If they let you weed out their bag, they can swap you for however many pieces you take out.
Get a Checkup
It’s better to have a little checkup shortly after Halloween to ensure your child’s teeth get a good cleaning. Plus, you can make sure there was no damage done by the Halloween festivities. We never know what a child might consume while at school, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.
When it comes down to it, even if you have to be the bad guy, your child’s teeth are forever, and Halloween will come every single year. There are plenty of ways to save your child’s teeth while still keeping it fun for the season. However, don’t ever be afraid to limit even holidays to ensure the safety of your child’s oral hygiene.
