October is here, and that means Halloween candy is everywhere. That also means it’s time for your Johns Creek dentist’s annual Halloween Candy Buyback. From Monday, November 5 through Thursday, November 8, Family & Cosmetic Dental Care will be collecting unopened candy, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
We won’t be eating these goodies ourselves – the sweets will be sent via Operation Gratitude to the armed service members who serve our country overseas. Plus, not only are you donating to a worthy cause and protecting your teeth, generous kids will earn $1 per pound of donated candy (up to five pounds) and have the opportunity to write letters to the troops.
Encourage Your Kids to Trick or Treat for Others
Collecting Halloween candy is hard work. Going door to door and dragging around that heavy bag or bucket full of chocolate, lollipops, gummy candy, and more, kids have earned the right to indulge in some sweets. However, setting the expectations with your child that they will only be keeping a fraction of their haul – and why – is a great way to encourage them think about others and make their oral health a priority at the same time.
To make this candy buyback an even bigger success, remind your kids of the incentive from your Johns Creek dentist: $1 earned with every pound of donated candy, up to $5. They will be running from house to house working to fill their trick-or-treat bags, competing with themselves and (if it’s positively framed) siblings and friends. The more you collect, the more you get to give – and your kids will quickly realize what a great feeling it is to be generous, especially when they’re giving away something that’s meaningful to them and greatly appreciate by others.
Operation Gratitude is an excellent opportunity to teach children that sharing an overabundance of their own good fortune is a great way to contribute to their community at large. The candy “give-back” collection run by Operation Gratitude rewards the men and women of the armed forces with a ghost of the great American tradition of trick-or-treating, even if they can’t be in the United States to enjoy it.
Reinforcing the Importance of Spooky Good Oral Health
Halloween is also an excellent time of year to reinforce the importance of taking care of your smile. Candy is a great treat on occasion, but if you eat candy every day and skip the brushing and flossing and dental cleanings and checkups, decay, cavities, and painful teeth won’t be far behind.
Many kids consider a visit to the dentist just one more thing that grown-ups make them do. But those visits every six months are an essential part of keeping teeth and gums clean, especially if your children are partial to the stickiest, most sugary candy. These treats linger and, without good cleaning, will haunt oral health.
Chances are, you won’t just have an overabundance of sugar in your house on October 31. You might find yourself in candy overload long before that. Don’t completely succumb to the call of your sweet tooth! (This goes for kids and adults, too!) Visit your Hello Family Dental practice the first week of November and, while you’re there, make sure your family is on the schedule for dental exams and cleanings.
