Trick or Treat Part II: The Worst Halloween Candies for Your Teeth

In the Halloween spirit, we will continue with our focus on trick or treat candies.  This week, let’s take a look at the worst Halloween candies for kids’ teeth.

Three Worst Halloween Candies for Your Teeth and Why: 

1. Sticky and chewy candies are the worst candies for teeth. These include gummy bears and taffies.  When children eat these candies, the candy can easily get lodged in crevices between teeth, and because they are sticky they stick to the surface of your teeth longer.  This allows the bacteria in our mouths to “eat” the deposited sugar, and this breaks down sugar to make acid, which dissolves tooth enamel and causes cavities.  Popular examples of this type of candy are Laffy Taffy, Airheads, Sour Straws, Jelly Beans, Skittles, Mike and Ikes, and Sugar Daddies.

2. Sour candies are also tough on teeth because they have high levels of acid that destroy the enamel of your teeth.  Popular examples of sour candies are War Heads, Wonka Fun Dip, and Sour Patch Kids.

3. Though they are good for saliva production, ultimately helping to wash away bacteria, hard Candies are also not the best for our teeth.  They dissolve slowly, so bacteria in our mouths have more time to produce acids within our mouths when we eat these candies.  Some candies are so hard that it is possible for us to chip our teeth when we eat them.  A popular example of this type of candy is a Life Saver.

Hopefully this list has given you insight on why certain candies are more detrimental to our teeth than others, and please take these factors into consideration when purchasing and choosing candies to eat and give out for the Holiday.