It’s time of the year again. Your kids just spent the month of October working harder to get candy than they have ever worked in school. And now there’s just a ton of candy, some hard and some chewy, sitting in bags and buckets until a tiny hand snatches it up.
To no one’s surprise, kids consume a lot more sugar around Halloween than any other time of the year. About three cups more is the widely cited number from Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.
“If you pour three cups into a measuring cup, I think you’ll be shocked how much sugar that is,” said Dr. Jeffrey Dean, a professor of dentistry at Indiana University.
Sugar is problematic for teeth because bacteria convert that sugar into acid and causes decay.
His tips for those who indulge in more sugary treats include eating the candy in one sitting rather than stringing it out over a longer period of time. (No, this is not to say you should eat all of your Halloween candy at once.) This is important because every time you consume sugar, it takes about 20 minutes for your mouth to flush out the acid, Dean said. That means if you stretch out eating that candy bar over the course of an hour or even a whole day, your mouth is constantly being bombarded with sugar after it just produced the saliva to flush it out.
Of course, it’s also helpful to brush your teeth after eating candy, or sugar free gum is a good way to activate saliva and flush the acid. Dean recommended
When it comes to deciding what candies are better or worse for oral health, it’s not strictly about the amount of sugar. Sticky candies can get stuck on teeth and won’t be flushed as easily.
That’s bad news for Hoosiers, as Forbes reported the most popular Halloween candy in Indiana is Hot Tamales. Next are Starbursts and Jolly Ranchers.
“As a member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, these are probably three of the worst candies you could be getting,” Dean said.
There are healthier options out there, including dark chocolate, which has antioxidants that don’t allow bacteria to produce acid.
But beware of treats that are marketed as healthy alternatives when they really aren’t. Those include so-called natural fruit chews that have a high sugar content and even granola bars.
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
