Your Halloween Candy Guide

Halloween is the time of year for pumpkin carving, costumes, and children roaming the streets in search of free candy. Halloween is a lot of fun, but it can play some dirty tricks on dental health, bombarding your child’s tooth enamel with sugary, sticky candy. 

We certainly aren’t suggesting that your children don’t participate in the Halloween festivities, just that you help them learn about what candy is more damaging than others. 

Halloween Candy Guide

Below are some of the most common types of Halloween candy and which are worst for the teeth: 

• Sour Candy – Sour candies are very acidic. The acid in these candies will wear down and weaken the tooth enamel, making your child’s teeth more vulnerable to dental cavities. 
• Hard Candy – Hard candies can crack the teeth if bitten and can pose a choking hazard to younger children. We recommend avoiding them this year! 
• Sticky or Gummy Candy – Gummy and sticky candies are some of the worst kind. These candies pull out fillings and crowns, and they remain on the teeth for a longer period of time, prolonging the exposure of sugar on the tooth enamel, causing tooth decay. 
• Chocolate – Not all candy choices are terrible! In fact, when it comes to Halloween candy, chocolate is your best bet. Chocolate melts quickly and is easily rinsed from the teeth. Dark chocolate is even better, as it has less sugar than milk or white chocolate. 

Here at Little Smiles of Delaware, we want all of our patients to have a healthy, safe, and happy Halloween! We recommend you consider a post-Halloween kids cleaning and exam to avoid future child tooth pain. To make an appointment, please contact Little Smiles of Delaware, our Delaware, OH children’s dental office!