Trick or Treat?


When I was young I loved halloween and I was a champion trick or treater. I would stay out for hours. Often I had to return home with one full bag of treats and before going back out so I could fill up another. In those days, kids weren't as well supervised as they are now and my parents didn't seem to mind if their 10 year old went out trick or treating after dark.

I kept my stash in my bedroom and feasted for the next month on my haul. All was good, at least until my teeth invariably started hurting and when I eventually went to the dentist he always found a cavity or two that needed filling.  I guess those may have been the "golden days for dentistry", but probably not so much for teeth!

Now most parents are hopefully smarter and shouldn't encourage their kids to spend so much time trick or treating. Eating candy is clearly bad for teeth and eating lots of candy is a really bad idea. That being true, how should a parent handle halloween? I am not really sure. No parent wants to be a total grinch where halloween is concerned, but clearly allowing our children feast on sweets for a month afterwards is a bad idea.

Based on an article I read in the World Street Journal , probably parents have wised up. It states:

"Some 81% of parents have rules about how much Halloween candy their children can eat, according to a survey in August conducted by the National Confectioners Association, and 40% say they limit consumption to a certain number of pieces a day until the candy runs out. "

The article mentions other more questionable techniques  such as a "Halloween Fairy" who comes at night an switches sweets for toys ( That wouldn't fool any kid I know) or being the house on the block that gives out more sensible treats like toothbrushes or green slime ( kids tend to avoid those houses).

Rationing of the sweets seems like a good idea especially if it is combined with parents promoting brushing after indulging. While I do not believe parents should take all the sweets out of Halloween, some thought should be given to how to mitigate any potential damage to children's' teeth afterwards. Having children eat their candy after meals as a desert and limiting the amount of candy that kids can indulge in each day, are excellent ideas. Parents can  supervise their kids tooth brushing afterwards as this  should help limit the amount of time the teeth are exposed to the sugar.

Although eliminating candy from Halloween is probably too draconian a measure, some thought by  parents on how to help their kids celebrate is a good idea.  Setting limits on candy consumption combined with improved oral hygiene  may mitigate any potential damage to children's teeth afterwards.

from Ask Dr. Spindel - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/2018/10/trick-or-treat.html - http://lspindelnycdds.blogspot.com/

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