Trick Or Treat? A Dentist Ranks Your Favorite Halloween Candy
You’ll find my favorite Halloween decoration at the front desk of my dental practice: a bowl of candy labeled “free cavities.” (Yes, I know, dentists are hilarious!) This weekend, children will dress up as their favorite characters and run around the neighborhood in the hopes of scoring the most delicious candy they can! They’ll also try and avoid those curmudgeons who have the audacity to give away apples and toothbrushes.
Dr. Andrew Swiatowicz
Apples Treat: Apples, both red and green, have some of the highest antioxidant capacity of any food you can eat. Trick: C’mon! This is just a mean joke to play on a trick-or-treater! Besides, fruits are packed with sugars, and can be slightly acidic — neither of which is great for your dental health. Stick to vegetables instead.
In a perfect world, children would only trick-or-treat at those homes giving away the least cariogenic (cavity-causing) treats — but this isn’t a perfect world, and your kid loves Laffy Taffy. There’s not too much you can do about that… at least not before this weekend. Nor is there much you can do to fight the multibillion dollar Candy Industrial Complex, which predicts $2.5 billion in candy sales for Halloween 2016.
Cavity Rating: 1
However, by thinking like a dentist, you might be able to fight back against those pesky cavity-causing bacteria. So here’s a brief guide to help you do just that! For each candy, I’ve described both the treat (its potential “health benefits”) and the trick (what it is really going to do to your teeth). I’ve also given it a cavity rating on a scale of one to five: the more orange teeth you see, the trickier the treat!
Trick: Fermentable carbohydrates like pretzels can get forced into the grooves of your teeth, which would then allow them to serve as a food source for bacteria. Plus, the crunchier a pretzel, the more likely it is to break a tooth.
Happy Trick-Or-Treating! 8
Pretzels Treat: A somewhat healthier alternative to candies, pretzels can also be a source of calcium — which is good for your teeth — and fiber.
Cavity Rating: 1 M&M’s Treat: Nuts have a natural abrasiveness that can help clean your teeth
www.livingwellmagazine.net
October 2018
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