10/13/2026
🦷 Tips for a Healthier Halloween from a Pediatric Dentist 🦷
🧙 Keep the focus on costumes: Dr V. loves to encourage her children to get very creative around costumes. That way, the costumes are the focus of the day, not the candy!
🪀 Offer fun candy alternatives: Dr V. suggests offering trick or treaters candy alternatives such as stickers, pencils, erasers, or other small toys.
🍫Be intentional about the type of candy: Not all candy is created equal when it comes to oral health! Dr. V. recommends avoiding foods that can get stuck in the deep grooves of children’s teeth, such as taffy or gummies, or hard foods that could chip teeth when biting on them, such as hard suckers or jaw breakers. Treats such as chocolate are easier to brush off teeth after enjoying.
🧸 Do a candy trade in: At the Villasenor home, each child can pick out a few of their favorite candies to enjoy in the days following Halloween, and then they can choose to trade the rest for new craft supplies or a stuffed animal.
👻 Have a safe and healthy Halloween, friends!
