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With Halloween right around the corner, kids aren’t the only ones getting ready to indulge their sweet tooth. Many adults can appreciate this once a year opportunity to enjoy their favorite sugary snack. While moderation and hygiene are important to preventing cavities, if you’ve had dental work done or dental implants placed, it’s especially important to be mindful of the types of candies you’re about to enjoy.
To protect your smile investment, here are some of our top recommendations:
Chewy Caramels & Hard Candies Won’t Do You Any Favors
While these can be delicious treats, these adult favorites pose a couple of serious risks to your dental work. Although lollipops, Jolly Ranchers, and other hard candies are made to be slowly dissolved, it’s easy to be tempted to chew these treats. This damages porcelain crowns and bridges, putting your entire implant restoration at risk. Even if you try to eat them slowly, you’re essentially bathing teeth in sugar, which ultimately contributes to cavities and gum disease.
Chewy caramels are no better. Not only are these loaded with sugar, their sticky nature means they easily become stuck to your teeth and are hard to dislodge without flossing and brushing. If you have a fixed implant bridge or denture, it’s especially easy for caramels to get trapped in the space between your gums and restoration. With this in mind, try to keep these treats to a minimum and be diligent about brushing and flossing after eating.
Keep Candy Corn in the Pantry
Love candy corn? Sadly, it doesn’t love your smile. While this themed candy is the quintessential sign that fall is here, the high sugar content (only 19 pieces has almost the same amount of sugar as a Coca-Cola) simply feeds gum disease-causing bacteria in your mouth.
Join the Dark (Chocolate) Side
While all chocolate is good, dark chocolate is even better for your smile. Not only does it have a lower sugar content than candy corn or caramels, it doesn’t stick to teeth, lowering how much time sugar has to impact your smile. Dark chocolate also contains contains healthy antioxidants that help effectively control blood sugar.
Alternate Candy with Healthy Snacks
Chances are that not all the Halloween candy you buy will end up in the bowl to pass out to trick-or-treaters. In addition to limiting how much candy you buy, be sure to keep other, healthy alternatives easily at hand. It’s okay to indulge in a few miniature candies here and there, but be sure to alternate those with smile-friendly snacks like veggie sticks, apple slices and nuts.
Have Left Over Candy? Donate it!
Even after the holiday is over, chances are you’ll still be faced with leftover candy. Rather than let it sit unopened in your cabinets or let it tempt you from a pretty bowl on the counter, donate it! A number of dental offices and charities throughout the Tarpon Springs area encourage patients to bring in leftover treats to be donated. Just call and ask!
Protect Your Smile the Holiday Season & Schedule a Dental Visit
Without a doubt, Halloween kicks off a sugar-heavy holiday season. Whether you’ve invested in dental implants or just want to maintain a healthy smile, visiting Dr. Kontos at his Tarpon Springs office can help. During your routine cleaning and exam, our dental team will provide you with tips for keeping your teeth and gums healthy from now to the new year. Call today to get started!