A sweet deal —dentists buy candy, send it to troops
Try to imagine Halloween costumes that represent cavity-free teeth and safe fun. Boring, you say? Doctors and dentists don’t necessarily want you to dress as a mouth or a flashlight, but they do want those topics on your mind for the act-crazy, eat-too-many- sweets Halloween holiday.
That’s why you’ll hear and read a lot of cautions that are not meant to spoil the fun but, hopefully, to heighten it.
Dr. Chris Kammer of Wisconsin in 2006 turned the idea of dentists buying Halloween candy from their patients into a national campaign called “Halloween Candy Buy Back.” In return, kids literally get money—$1 a pound— and such cool things as flashing toothbrushes. The candy is recycled for a good cause.
This year Kammer expects 1,500 dental offices around the country to participate. The program is now run from the Web site www.halloweencandybuyback.com , which offers dentists lots of ideas, promotions and what to do with all the candy. In Medina, Dr. Peter Igoe has branched his office out to offer treats for the parents as well, said Karen Jordan, a dental assistant. Parents who bring in their children with candy for the program get a chance at gift certificates to local restaurants.
In addition to the standard $1 per pound, children also have a chance to win a pair of Sabres game tickets, Jordan said.
“We’re promoting better dental hygiene for the children,” Jordan said. “Obviously not all that sugar is good for them.” The candy is going to troops overseas, “sending them a little treat they can’t get over there,” she said.
Igoe’s office will accept candy Monday and Wednesday from 3 to 5 p. m., and Tuesday and Thursday from 9 to 11 a. m.
That’s a different twist to trick-or-treating, but let’s also consider the safety part of the holiday. Flashlights, reflective tape on costumes and adult supervision are important, as always.
“Be safe and be smart,” said David Higdon, director of emergency services at Ocean Springs (Miss.) Hospital and a registered nurse associated with emergency rooms for 26 years.
“Scrapes and broken bones, that’s the most typical things we see in emergency rooms during Halloween. It’s often wrist fractures from people trying to brace their falls when they trip over costumes, or, because they’re not using a flashlight, they don’t see an obstacle or hole in their path.
The other oft-heard caution is sugar overload—not good for the body, the temperament or the teeth.
At the office of Dr. Edward Banas in Vancleave, Miss., they hope to “buy back” 500 pounds of candy from trick-or- treaters and send it to the children of Iraq and Afghanistan and U. S. soldiers.
Each child there also will get a flashing toothbrush, plus $1 per pound of candy.
“We’re excited. The kids are healthier, because they will have less Halloween candy, but we’re really excited about what happens to the candy.”
The sweets will be donated to Operation Gratitude, a national charity that sends candy overseas to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Most, however, is not consumed by the military but handed out to befriend kids in those war-torn countries.
News staff writer Andrew Z. Galarneau contributed to this report.
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