Braces-Friendly Treats: Enjoy the Spooky Season Without Worry

Think back on your favorite Halloween as a kid. Chances are memories focus on the two Cs – costumes and candy. The weeks leading up to Halloween were about finding the perfect costume and changing your mind several times before the big day.

Once Halloween arrives, you zero in on who is handing out the best candy, which house has your favorites, and who is giving out full-sized candy bars. But does Halloween become less significant if you’re wearing braces? Absolutely not, says the highly skilled team at Duval Orthodontics. It’s all about selecting braces-friendly treats in those candy cauldrons.

Frighteningly bad foods to avoid

For candy and food choices, when you have braces, a good rule of thumb is to refrain from eating too many sweets, and when you do so, make it a one-and-done thing compared to snacking on sweets throughout the day.

Other important things to remember are that you want to avoid foods or candy that could damage your braces or get stuck between them. So forget about those jawbreakers and other hard candie, including:

• Caramel or candy-covered apples
• Chewy candies like taffy, caramel, gummies, jellybeans, and licorice
• Popcorn, chips, and hard pretzels
• Nuts and trail mix
• Lollipops
• Bubble and chewing gum

Ghoulishly good treats to enjoy

About now, you’re probably thinking that your braces have eliminated all the Halloween fun of great candy and snack options. Not so. Think moderation and make wise candy and snack choices.

The long-standing Halloween favorite candy, Reese's Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups, tops our list of braces-friendly treats. The news gets even better, especially if you’re a big chocolate fan. Let the iconic M&M’s advertising slogan — the milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hands — guide your braces-friendly treat decisions.

Chocolate bars without nuts are a great option. Break the bar into smaller pieces and chew using your back teeth, or follow the advertising slogan and enjoy the chocolaty goodness as it melts.

Other ghoulishly good treats include:

• Plain M&M's
• Reese’s Pieces
• Peppermint patties
• Hershey’s Kisses
• Kit Kat and 3 Musketeers bars

Spellbinding home hygiene care routine

As you can see, Halloween doesn’t need to be a drag just because you wear braces. Whether it’s October and time to step out in your next favorite Halloween costume or springtime, the real game-changer that makes your food and snack choices horrifying or magical is stepping up your oral hygiene habits.

Orthodontics is all about teeth movement, the nooks and crannies created by braces, and all those new positions your teeth are moving to. Eating lots of candy and sugar snacks and a lax oral hygiene routine can increase the likelihood of developing cavities or gum disease or even permanent white marks from decalcification.

Button up your daily hygiene routine by keeping your teeth clean under your braces. Floss at least once a day; you should floss before brushing your teeth. Flossing first accomplishes three critical things: it removes food debris, loosens plaque, and allows your toothbrush to deliver toothpaste better.

Don’t be afraid to try out new special tools to reach into all those new nooks and crannies. There are many different special toothbrushes, oral tools, floss threaders, or water irrigators that can make it much easier to get to those hard-to-reach spots.

Cap off your spellbinding home hygiene routine with regular checkups and professional cleanings with your dentist or orthodontist.

The team at Duval Orthodontics wishes you and yours a hauntingly good Halloween. Contact us for all our orthodontic needs. Call the office in Warner Robins or Albany, Georgia, or book an appointment online today.