Air date: October 26, 2008

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So Halloween is a few days away, which means that if you have kids, they’ll soon be in possession of an enormous amount of candy. Bags and bags full. And of course they want to eat it -- all of it -- right away. So what do you do? Is it OK to let your kids pig out on Halloween sweets?

"If they start eating it all at once, I think they’re OK"

That’s Mark Helpin, a specialist in pediatric dentistry at Temple University School of Dentistry. He said that getting cavities has less to do with how much candy kids eat than with how often they eat it.

"It’s the frequency of intakes of sugars, the number of exposures a child or adult has to sugars, that can create some difficulty in the area of cavities."

That’s because when you eat a piece of candy, or potato chips, or any carbohydrate, there a 30 to 60 minute period during which bacteria in the mouth feed on the carbs and produce acid -- which is what causes tooth decay.

"So if I have two pieces of candy and I eat one piece of candy now and then another piece of candy one hour later, I ultimately will expose my teeth to two hours of acidity in the mouth."

Okay, so that’s why it’s actually not so terrible to let your kids binge a little on Halloween. But what about the left overs? You can throw them out, of course. If you don’t, though, and let your kids have a little candy each day, Helpin says it’s best to do so around mealtimes.

"During mealtimes we have an increased flow of saliva and it will help wash the mouth and buffer, help minimize, the acid that’s created in the mouth when candy is eaten."

So have a safe, fun and tooth friendly Halloween.

This Sound Medicine Checkup is underwritten by IUPUI, where impact is made on our students, our community, our health and our economy. More information at www.iupui.edu.

Additional Resources:

• Learn more about Halloween candy and cavities.

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