This is a tempting time of year for people with a sweet tooth. Even if you don’t crave Halloween candy, the stuff is everywhere, and you might find yourself biting into a treat that would otherwise be off-limits for your diet and teeth. Give in to the wrong temptation and you could easily destroy your smile makeover.
Pulled in the Wrong Direction
It’s the chewy candy that causes some of the biggest dental disasters on Halloween. Anything gummy or sticky or taffy-like automatically clings to your teeth – and dental work. Sure, your NYC dentist has bonded your tooth-colored fillings, porcelain crowns, and dental bridges firmly in place, but sometimes even the toughest dental restorations are no match for the pull of sticky sugar.
If you bite down on that piece of licorice or gummy worm and pull hard, don’t be surprised if dental work comes right along with it. This kind of candy is the poster child for dental problems.
Hard Candy Lessons
Some people love hard candy, like lollipops and jawbreakers, because they stick around for a while. You can enjoy one piece of candy for hours at a time instead of just for a few minutes – but this is a problem for a few reasons. First, you’re exposing your teeth to sugar the entire time you’re eating the candy. Second, most people eventually get tired of eating the hard candy. Instead of throwing it away, they bite down to finish it faster – and that one bite can crack a tooth, chip a veneer, and seriously damage your smile makeover.
Unsavory Sugar Bath
If you manage to avoid the damage that the wrong kind of candy can visibly do to your teeth, you’re lucky, but if you’re still overindulging on the sweets, you could suffer a different kind of fate: tooth decay. Because Halloween candy is everywhere, you may grab a piece here, grab a piece there, munching as the day goes on to avoid giving in too dramatically.
Unfortunately, this piece-at-a-time routine could be more detrimental than grabbing five pieces of candy at once and chowing down. When you eat candy throughout the day without brushing and flossing in between, you expose your teeth to an ongoing sugar bath. At the very least, drink water to rinse of your teeth in between snacks. Even better, clean your teeth so sugar and bacteria don’t set up shop on your enamel and cause cavities and infections. Remember that natural teeth can still suffer dental problems underneath cosmetic dentistry, so cleaning them is just as important as it always was. That never changes.
The Least Tricky Treat
No one is saying you must stay away from the yummy sweets, but it is wise to choose your poison carefully. If you want to keep your teeth safe and smile makeover intact, the best kind of candy to indulge in is chocolate. Smooth, soft, pure chocolate. You’ll want to avoid any candy bars stuffed with nuts or caramel or other dental-unfriendly ingredients. Chocolate in general, though, slides off the teeth, melts quickly and easily, and doesn’t stick around for hours working away at your tooth enamel.
Besides, who doesn’t love chocolate? It’s delicious, it’s everywhere, and it’s the safest kind of candy for your teeth. That’s definitely a win any time of year.
Need some damaged dental work repaired after a Halloween candy indulgence? Schedule an appointment with Dr. Wei at his dental office and get your smile makeover back in perfect working order.
