Halloween Sweet Hauls Give US Dentists a Fright

Halloween, a popular annual event in the USA is slowly creeping into the UK with more people every year dressing up, putting on parties and encouraging their children to go trick or treating. However, dentists in America are concerned that the national holiday encourages children to go on sweet eating binges, which obviously can have an impact on oral health.

In the USA Halloween is celebrated all over the country and it is traditional for children, dressed in costumes to go door to door around their neighbourhoods ‘trick or treating’. It is thought that in the average American middle class neighbourhood a child can easily accumulate a haul of sweets weighing several pounds. This event is also hitting London.

Obviously eating so many sweets all in one go, even though it is a once a year occasion, is bad news for your children’s’ teeth. Many people joke that Halloween is a great time for dentists in America as it helps to keep them in business, but in fact most dentists are highly concerned about the impact on this annual candy binge on children’s teeth.

It’s well known that excessive consumption of sugary foods is not good for dental health, yet every year without fail parents throughout America allow their children to go on uncontrolled candy eating binges. The damaged caused could lead to serious tooth decay and gum disease that could cause problems in later life. Some of the aesthetic symptoms of this tooth decay can be solved with cosmetic dental procedures such as dental implants and porcelain veneers. However, more serious problems could arise too and it’s not just dental health that is affected negatively by excessive consumption of sweets.

As a result of these concerns dentists throughout America have advised parents to ration the candy this year.  Parents have been warned to pay particular attention to the quantity of sticky sweets such as toffee being consumed by their children as it often sticks to teeth and can be caught inside braces which could encourage prolific tooth decay. With the popularity of American trends such as Halloween on the rise in the UK then it’s advisable that British parents who allow their children to go trick or treating keep an eye on the sweet consumption too.

Posted in: Dental Health, News
Tags: gum disease, Gum disease London, London
| October 26, 2010 at 10:55 am | No comment

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