3 Ways to Protect Your Teeth This Halloween

Halloween is a season for everything spooky, but if you aren’t careful, the scariest thing come November could be your smile.

Between sweets and Halloween parties, there are quite a few ways that your teeth could suffer this October. If you’re careful, however, you can get through spooky season with your teeth relatively unscathed. Here are a few things you may want to keep in mind.

Be Picky About Candy

As you might imagine, the best thing to do for your smile is to avoid sweets altogether. However, this time of year, that kind of advice almost isn’t practical; candy is almost unavoidable, and is sometimes tempting to ignore.

That said, you can choose to be picky about which kind of candy you eat, because some are worse for your teeth than others. In general, the longer that sugar stays in the mouth, the worse that it is for your teeth. That means gummy, hard, and chewy candies tend to be the most damaging.

On the flip side, candies that are washed away easily, like chocolate, are a way to indulge without causing quite as many problems for your smile.

Avoid Heavy Drinking

Most people are going to some kind of Halloween party this time of year, and most of those will have alcohol at them. As you might have figured, drinking excessively isn’t the best for your teeth.

In the short term, alcohol can dry out the mouth, which prevents saliva from breaking down the food particles in the mouth. That leaves that food to linger, which as you know, contributes to oral health problems. In the long term, it may increase your chances of developing oral cancer. If you want to protect your oral health in the long run, cutting back on drinking may be a good idea.

Think About Your Next Dental Visit

If you think that the Halloween season has worn on your teeth, you may want to go ahead and schedule a dental cleaning for November. This can give your dentist an opportunity to check on the quality of your teeth, and to clean you up for the coming year.

About the Author

Dr. Henry Lu became a dentist because he never wanted anyone to have to feel bad about their teeth. That’s why it’s so important to him that his patients are not only in the best oral health, but that they are as educated as they can be about what it takes to preserve a beautiful smile. Dr. Lu received his degree from the Nova Southeastern University College of Dental Medicine, and is currently a member of both the American Dental Association (ADA) and the Texas Dental Association (TDA).

If you have any questions about how to protect your smile this Halloween, we can be reached at our website or by phone at (469) 998-9822.