How to find alternatives to Halloween candy

Choosing Halloween candy used to require a decision between plain or peanut. These days, you can’t just pick up a 10-pound bag of Snickers without considering how candy contributes to the rise of childhood obesity, poor nutrition and tooth decay.

If you’re looking for a trick-or-treat alternative that will set a better example for nutrition and good oral health, you’re not alone. Parents are all too aware that Halloween is only the beginning of a months-long candy season that begins with candy corn tucked in pockets and ends with marshmallow Peeps stuck to the backseat.

Yet Halloween can also become a good time to reexamine the price kids teeth pay for all of that “free” candy.  There are Halloween treats that won’t hurt teeth, says Dental Director Dr. Louis Amendola, D.D.S., of Western Dental Services, Inc.,  a dental HMO based in California.

“Try something that isn’t candy, such as Halloween-themed pencils, stickers or glow-in-the-dark bracelets,” says Dr. Amendola. “Party supply stores often have a good assortment of favors and trinkets that can be added to your trick-or-treat giveaways,” he said.

It’s hard to break with tradition, though. Instead of  becoming the neighborhood bad guy who bans all candy, Dr. Amendola suggested selecting edible treats that will cause the least harm, dentally speaking. He explained that tooth decay is the product of naturally occurring bacteria that digest sugars in the mouth and produce acid, which dissolves tooth enamel.

“The longer you expose your teeth to sugar, the more likely you are to experience damage,” he said. “The worst offenders are sticky candies that linger long after you eat them.” Dr. Amendola offers these additional trick-or-treating tips:

• Avoid giving away or keeping hard candies, taffy, bubble gum, lollipops and caramels.
• Offer sugarless gum, preferably with the natural sweetener xylitol, which stops the action of acid-producing mouth bacteria.
• Have your children bring bottles of water, which can quench thirst and rinse away sugar.
• Sort your children’s candy haul and throw away the most damaging treats.
• Set a limit on how many pieces of Halloween candy can be eaten each day, and when.

Preventing Cavities Begins in Infancy

It’s midnight, the baby is crying — still — and you’re thinking, “If I can just get him to fall asleep with a bottle of formula, we can all get a decent night’s rest.”

Allowing extended contact with a bottle of juice or formula may be a short-term comfort now, but in the long term it can lead to serious decay that dentists call Baby Bottle Syndrome.

The naturally occurring sugars in juice, breast milk or formula feed oral bacteria that secrete acid strong enough to dissolve tooth enamel. Front teeth are most likely to be affected because they  have the longest potential exposure. Baby teeth begin to appear when infants are about 6 months old, but most babies continue to use a bottle until after their first birthday.

“We see lots of well-intentioned parents and caregivers put their babies to sleep with a bottle or sippy cup full of formula or juice, but that’s a bad practice to start and a tough one to stop,” says Dr. Louis Amendola, D.D.S., the chief dental director of Western Dental Services, Inc., a dental HMO in California.

The decay can spread aggressively, leading to near total destruction of teeth. As a result, the child may need extensive restoration, crowns or procedures to remove the  tooth’s live tissue. Extensive cavities can make babies sensitive to hot and cold temperatures and affect their ability to bite and chew. Frequently, badly decayed teeth must be extracted, which can interfere with speech and the development of permanent teeth.

If babies must have a bottle or cup for comfort, it’s better to fill it with plain water, says Dr. Amendola.

If  the baby is already hooked on a bottle of formula for comfort, gradually dilute the contents with water until the baby is weaned from the decay-causing liquids.

Of course, the best solution is prevention. Dr. Amendola suggests that parents let every caregiver know that baby bottles aren’t to be used as pacifiers, but only for nutrition.