Halloween candy – it’s one night a year, right? How much damage can a few indulgences do? Let’s all be honest and admit that Halloween candy lasts from September well into November. It’s hard to resist those colorful bags of your favorite childhood treats. Resist you must, however, if you don’t want to ruin the cosmetic dentistry and restorative dentistry that your NYC dentist used to give you an amazing smile makeover.
Here are just some of the ways Halloween candy can destroy your flawless smile:
1. Your teeth will break.
Are you the kind of person who doesn’t want to see how many licks it takes to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop? If you can’t help yourself from biting down on a hard candy or lollipop to get to the sweet or gummy center, you could end up with another surprise – a broken tooth.
Teeth and tooth enamel are very strong, but it’s not foolproof. Chomp down on an unforgiving Halloween sweet and you could end up with a chipped veneer or broken molar. And if you don’t get these fixed right away, you leave behind openings for bacteria to slip into the newly formed cracks in your teeth.
2. You will get a cavity.
Even if you don’t bite down on a jawbreaker, lollipop, or other hard candy, the time it takes you to finish a piece of candy like this is a long-lasting sugar bath for your teeth. You might have gorgeous porcelain veneers covering your tooth enamel in the front and resisting acids, but your natural teeth are still behind the veneers, and the enamel is at risk of developing decay from too much sugar and bacteria.
You can avoid cavities by making smart decisions about how and when you snack on candy, at Halloween or any time of year. Eating your fill in one sitting or right at the end of a meal when your saliva is flowing is far better than spacing out the sweets throughout the day. Your waistline may benefit, but your teeth will not. The longer you wait in between meals and snacks without brushing and flossing, the longer your teeth are exposed to residual food particles and bacteria – a ripe environment for tooth decay.
3. You will pull something out.
Are you a lover of sticky, chewy, and gummy candy? Do you automatically go for the licorice, gummy bears, caramel, candy apples, and taffy? These treats may satisfy your sweet tooth but they could also be responsible for pulling it apart. Some chewy candies are so incredibly clingy they can pull out a tooth-colored filling or porcelain crown or loosen a bridge.
If you’re so worried about pulling out your dentures that you forgo candy entirely, that’s sad. You don’t want to miss out on the good stuff because you’re worried about the durability of your teeth. In cases like this, it’s time to discuss permanent smile restorations, like dental implants. They stay in place so you can eat all the Halloween treats you’ve always loved without worrying about the fallout (you still have to brush and floss though!).
Contact Dr. Michael J. Wei to schedule an appointment at his Midtown Manhattan dental office on Madison Avenue to talk smile makeovers.
