Emergency dentistry in later life can be avoided if parents limit their children’s intake of sugary snacks, it has been suggested.
Blogger Bob Wire explained that while the occasional sweet treat is fine, he is concerned about the effect overindulgence will have on children’s dental health.
Writing for online source New West, Mr Wire said he is concerned that kids who eat lots of sweets will have "rotten teeth crumbling inside their braces" by the time they hit puberty.
With British kids adopting their US cousins’ tradition of trick or treating during Halloween, Mr Wire offered advice to parents concerned about their offspring’s dental health.
He explained that while he allows his costumed children to go trick or treating, he gets rid of most of their haul as soon as they have gone to bed.
"When they’re asleep, I’ll cull their stash by about two-thirds and throw out the excess," Mr Wire noted.
The Colgate website supports this idea, but warns that depriving kids of sweets altogether will only make them crave them more.