What's the Spookiest thing about Halloween for Orthodontists??

It's the candy, of course!  We love your favorite candies too (because, duh... they're delicious), but the abundance of candy present at Halloween is a good reason for us to take a moment to discuss why we should be extra careful with it while wearing braces.

There are two reasons that patients wearing braces should be extra careful with their Halloween candy.

1. If you're a candy-lover, then you already know that many of your delicious sweet treats can be hard, crunchy, sticky, or chewy.  Biting hard onto candies like this can cause braces to become loosened or break.  As you know, broken braces can be uncomfortable and may even cause your treatment to take longer!
2. Sugar!!  Candy is full of delicious sugar!  EEK!  Sugar has a way of finding its way into the nooks and crannies of your braces, and it gives you extra work to do to keep things nice and clean.  Sticky sugar is especially insidious since it really wants to stay put.

Ok, so what can you do?  Is Halloween ruined?  No!!  Don't be silly.  There are plenty of candies that you can eat - just remember these tricks:

• Choose softer candies, and eat them gently.
• Never bite and crunch on hard candies
• Always brush and floss well after eating anything with sugar!