Millions of kids are going to be trick-or-treating in a few days and if you are a parent, are you prepared? You may be worried about your kids gorging themselves on candy, worried about tummy aches and tooth decay, but you can prevent all of that with a few easy tips. Take our Are You Nice or Mean Quiz below to find out how to protect your child’s teeth without being mean this Halloween.
Nice or Mean?
- Nice or Mean: Allowing your kids sticky candies such as taffy and caramels.
- Nice or Mean: Allowing your child to keep some candy and donate the rest.
- Nice or Mean: Teaching your children how to care of their teeth during Halloween.
Answers:
- Mean: Sticky candies such as gummies, taffy, and caramels are the worst for your children’s teeth because they coat their teeth with sugars and are difficult to remove. However, if they are your child’s favorites, you can still be nice by allowing them a few.
- Nice: You are being nice allowing your kids to choose some candy to keep and donating the rest to programs that send the candy to our troops. You can also sell your candy to some dentists who offer Halloween candy buy-back programs. You are not only being nice to your children by limiting the amount of candy they eat (and potential cavities!) but you are being nice to our American service men and women.
- Nice: By enforcing a few fair rules now such as allowing them a piece of candy only after meals when saliva flow is high and can help fight tooth decay; encouraging them to drink water while eating candy, because water helps fight harmful oral bacteria; and, having them rinse with water immediately after eating candy to wash away sugar, then brush their teeth thirty-minutes to an hour later, you are being nice by teaching them proper dental habits for life. In fact, someday they just may thank you!
