How to keep your teeth healthy on Halloween

Halloween is just around the corner, and we know that means many of our patients are looking forward to a night of dressing up as their favorite scary monsters, and of course, digging into a mound of Halloween candy. But hold your horses: for our kid’s orthodontics patients in Charlottesville this year, the sweetest part of Halloween can also be the scariest! At Charlottesville Orthodontics, we’re proud to help patients throughout Charlottesville and Zion Crossroads, VA, achieve healthy beautiful smiles, and if you’re sporting braces during this year’s fright night, we’re here to offer a few tips to keep your teeth and braces safe.

Tips for keeping braces safe during Halloween

Ghouls, ghosts, and goblins may be spooky, but do you know something that’s truly scary? Breaking your braces! And unfortunately, this is all too easy on Halloween. That’s because many of the candies we love to indulge in on Halloween night pose a serious threat to braces and teeth, so make sure to follow these tips to keep your braces and teeth healthy this year:

Anything hard or sticky: Hard candy can easily break off brackets, while sticky, gooey candies can get stuck underneath the archwire and wreak havoc on your braces. So as tempting as they may be, make sure to avoid hard and sticky candies like toffee, Jolly Ranchers, and caramels.

Stick to the soft stuff: Thankfully, not all Halloween candy is off-limits. So long as it’s soft and easy to chew, you can still eat any candy that’s not hard, sticky or gooey: candies like milk chocolate or Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups are a great treat for braces wearers on Halloween.

Limit candy to specific times: In addition to harming braces, the sugar in candy can interact with bacteria to form acids and plaque that erode tooth enamel and cause cavities. To limit this, try to only eat candy at specific times, ideally after a meal. The less frequently you expose your mouth to sugar, the less damage the candy can do.

Contact your Charlottesville orthodontist

These tips will help keep your braces and teeth safe during Halloween, and for those wearing Invisalign, all you’ll need to do is make sure to thoroughly brush your teeth after eating any candy. Have more questions on navigating Halloween while undergoing orthodontic treatment? Simply contact us and we’d be happy to answer them or reference our list of foods to avoid with braces. We can’t wait to hear from you, and we wish you luck in having a safe, braces-friendly Halloween!