OK.... Hand it Over!

Here's another of my monthly dental articles that I write for the Japanese newspaper.
Quite fitting for October Halloween season!

OK, Hand it Over!

In the United States, every year, Halloween is celebrated on October 31^st. This holiday is an old one that started out honoring the dead.  Nowadays, it’s full of costumes, games, scary story-telling and of course, candy, candy, and more candy! Halloween is quite the dentist’s nightmare.

I remember that as a little kid my friends and I would run around the neighborhood ringing doorbell after doorbell. We would go to the houses that gave out a lot of candy twice!  There was so much candy collected that it would last me for the whole year. It would be 2 shopping bags full of candy, gum, chocolates or other sweets. My brother, sisters and I would pour everything out on the living room floor and separate them into piles. Chocolates in one pile, gum in another pile, candy in another pile, and of course, there was the “trading” pile.  The trading pile could be traded with someone else for something you liked more. There was rarely a “throw away” pile.

Now, years later, as a mother with 2 kids, I’ve noticed that the amount of candy collected for Halloween has sharply decreased. Thank goodness!  Although my poor kids will never know the joys in seeing the mountains of candy I sorted through every year! As a dentist, I know that it’s impossible to have parents ban ALL Halloween candy collections and watch the sad faces of their children as they see their goodies poured into the garbage can.  There IS a solution to keep everyone happy.

Last year, I told my kids I would go through their Halloween collections first to see if everything was safe to eat. You can never be too careful these days! I also wanted to toss out the “undesirable” goodies from a dentist’s point of view. My kids made a face and called me the “Halloween Police”.  They can call me whatever they want to but when they came through the door, I was there with my hand out. “OK, Hand it over!” It was either hand over the bags or the bags go into the trash. They obediently handed over their bags. 

So here’s a list to keep everyone happy:

BAD…..Gummy candies, sticky and chewy taffy, even dried fruits are more difficult for saliva to wash away. They get stuck between teeth and can cause cavities there.

BAD….. Sour candies are highly acidic and can break down the enamel quickly.

BAD….. It’s best to avoid anything too overly sugary. More sugar, more cavities formed.

GOOD…. Sugar-free candy or lollipops make it on this list. These don’t contain sugar and can stimulate saliva which prevents a dry mouth. Dry mouths tend to have more plaque which can lead to more cavities.

GOOD…. Sugar-free gum (my all time favorite!) can actually prevent cavities by helping to dislodge food particles from in between the teeth. It also helps prevent cavities by increasing saliva production to neutralize the acids in the mouth.

GOOD…. Dark chocolates are also on this list.  They wash away from the teeth easily and in some studies, are found to be good for the heart and lower blood pressure.

As I went through my kids’ bag of Halloween candy, I made a “Mommy pile”. When they protested, I told them, “If you’re going to call me the Halloween Police, I need to be paid for my hard work!”  Needless to say, I’m now called the “Halloween Mafia”!