Best Halloween candy for your teeth -- and the worst
The surge of sugar around Halloween could lead to problems with your teeth. That's why we're bringing in Aesthetic Dental Spa owner Dr. Alex Naini to share the best candy to snack on that won't significantly impact your teeth's health this holiday.
"You want to avoid things that are sticky, like Twizzlers, like Starburst," says Dr. Naini. "You want to avoid the sticky ones, you want to avoid the hard ones, like candy corn, like Jolly Ranchers. You want to avoid them because they take a really long time to melt and they stay in your mouth for a very long time."
Dr. Naini says you can also add Skittles to the list of candies to avoid.
"The longer it sits, the more cavity-making it can cause," she says.
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So, what do you do if you've already purchased these types of candies? Dr. Naini says you don't have to throw them away. She says it's best to have your candy all in one sitting instead of having some all day long.
"Don't pace [yourself] because if you pace [yourself] and have a little at a time, what'll happen is you'll basically have the sugar in your mouth every hour, and it takes an entire hour for your mouth to neutralize the acid," says Dr. Naini.
Your best bet for Halloween candy that will keep your smile sweet is chocolate.
"Reese's is good, M&M's are good, Dove chocolates are good, any dark chocolate is good," Dr. Naini says. "All of those things, those are your best bet because they wash out faster, you can chew a little bit of gum and that'll wash it out as well."
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No matter what kind of candy you're looking forward to sampling this holiday, Dr. Naini says there are plenty of things you can do to take extra good care of your teeth from chewing gum to rinsing with water.
"Anything with xylitol is good for you," Dr. Naini says. "There's mouth washes, there's gums with xylitol. Xylitol is a natural alkalizer so what it will do is it will just immediately neutralize the acid. And then of course, brush and floss."