Don’t be the holiday Grinch and prevent your family enjoying Halloween and the inevitable treats that come their way. By taking a few simple steps, you will be able to feel completely comfortable about your family’s oral hygiene at this ‘sugary’ time of the year.

Halloween is becoming increasingly popular in Australia and the recent Oral-B / ADA Halloween Study suggests that 83 percent of adults believe that children celebrate more now than when they were of a similar age.

Professor Manton Vice-chair of the ADA’s Oral Health Committee believes there is a direct relationship between regularly consuming sugary foods and drinks and tooth decay and it therefore makes sense to limit these for the good of our dental health.

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare research indicates that levels of tooth decay in children is rising. Over half of all 6-year old’s experience some tooth decay in their baby teeth and by the time they reach 12, almost half have decay in their permanent teeth.

All tooth decay is completely preventable and the Australian Dental Association have provided the following tips to help ensure that sugar related acid attacks on our children’s teeth are minimised during Halloween:

• Strictly limit the number of sugary treats consumed each day.
• Ensure that children do not snack on sugary treats over an extended timeframe.
• Immediately rinse your mouth out with water after eating anything sugary.
• Chew sugar free gum to stimulate saliva, which can neutralise acid attacks caused by sugar.
• Thoroughly check the nutritional information on snacks that are marketed as ‘healthy’.
• Ensure that children brush their teeth well before going to bed.
• Give children alternatives to sugary treats such as cheap toys or trinkets.
• Have a break from sugar during the week before and the week after Halloween to give your teeth a break.

By teaching our children these healthy eating tricks, they can both enjoy Halloween and maintain their pearly whites for future years