Halloween Is a Scary Time for Kids’ Teeth

With Halloween fast approaching, many parents are looking for ways to keep their kids as healthy as possible. There’s candy everywhere: at school parties, handed out at your favorite stores, and at every trick-or-treat event you attend. Halloween can be scary at the best of times. It’s even scarier for your kids’ teeth! How can you, as a parent, keep your kids’ teeth safe this Halloween and still have plenty of spooky (and not-so-spooky) fun? These suggestions will make it easier.

Swap the Candy

Trick-or-treating is half the fun of Halloween, and preventing your child from having any of their favorite treats feels like it’s ruining the holiday. Instead, let your child collect all the treats, then at the end of the night, swap them for something else. This could include:

• Swapping out the candy for healthy treats that your child loves.
• Offering a toy, book, or movie that your child has been wanting.
• Suggesting an additional Halloween experience in exchange for the candy.

Keep It Slow

Sure, it’s tempting to binge on all that great candy — for both you and your child! Spreading the candy out over the next few months instead of eating it all at once, however, is a much better way to make the most of your Halloween goodies. Try offering one or two pieces of candy as dessert after a meal. Keep the candy put up out of sight to help reduce temptation.

Brush After Eating

Once your child is done munching on their candy, brushing their teeth will help remove the sugar and leave them feeling fresh and clean. Even better, no one wants to ruin that minty-fresh toothpaste taste, so your child will be less likely to head straight back to the bucket of Halloween candy.

Clean Out the Candy

Once a few weeks have gone by and the novelty of Halloween has worn off, it’s time to clean out what’s left of the candy. By this point, it’s likely that the “best” candy has already been eaten anyway. If all that remains is the leftovers that no one cares for, it’s not worth keeping them around and munching anyway!

You want to keep your kids’ teeth safe and allow them to enjoy the Halloween season. Luckily, you can do both at the same time! Provide your kids with a tooth-safe candy and have a happy Halloween.