{"id":237346,"date":"2025-10-29T13:22:50","date_gmt":"2025-10-29T17:22:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=237346"},"modified":"2025-10-29T13:22:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T17:22:50","slug":"halloween-dental-myths-busted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/10\/halloween-dental-myths-busted\/","title":{"rendered":"Halloween Dental Myths Busted"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Don&#8217;t let dental myths spook your style! UConn&#8217;s pediatric dental experts share some common myths, truths, and tips just in time for Halloween.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Myth #1: All candy is equally bad for your teeth<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Truth<\/em>: \u00a0Not all treats are created equal! Candies that are not sticky and melt quickly like dark chocolate are less harmful.<br \/>\n<em>Tip<\/em>: Choose candies that disappear fast, your smile will thank you!<\/p>\n<p><strong>Myth #2: Brush right after eating candy<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Truth<\/em>: Brushing right away can damage softened enamel! Wait 30 minutes after sweets.<br \/>\n<em>Tip<\/em>: Rinse with water, wait, then brush with fluoride toothpaste.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Myth #3: Sugar-free candy is always safe<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Truth<\/em>: Some sugar-free candies are acidic and can still damage enamel.<br \/>\n<em>Tip<\/em>: Read the label! Sugar-free doesn\u2019t always mean tooth-safe.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Myth #4: Kids should never eat candy<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Truth<\/em>: Candy isn\u2019t evil, but constant snacking can be an issue.<br \/>\n<em>Tip<\/em>: Enjoy sweets right after meals when saliva is high and acids are neutralized.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Myth #5: Baby teeth don\u2019t matter<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Truth<\/em>: Baby teeth are vital for speech, nutrition, and spacing adult teeth.<br \/>\n<em>Tip<\/em>: Brush twice daily and visit your dentist every 6 months!<\/p>\n<p>And lastly, visit your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uconnhealth.org\/dental-care\/services-specialties\/pediatric-dentistry\">friendly UConn pediatric dental team<\/a>, now located on UConn Health\u2019s main campus in Farmington.<\/p>\n<p><em>Dr. Tina Fadel, first-year resident, contributed to this post. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>UConn&#8217;s pediatric dentists share truths and tips for Halloween<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":136,"featured_media":237348,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2166,179],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2177],"class_list":["post-237346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sdm","category-uconn-health"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-25 19:19:47","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/136"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237346"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":237353,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237346\/revisions\/237353"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/237348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237346"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=237346"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=237346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}