Halloween is a well-celebrated holiday where people decorate their houses, stay at home and give out candies or dress up and go trick-or-treating. In October, supermarkets and shops put out big bags of candy for customers to buy, but after the celebration, there will be a lot of excess candies.

“I will prepare lots of candy for Halloween and give it out. I will get two full bags of candies [from] trick-or-treat[ing],” said Alyse McBride, a junior at NDB.

Halloween is defined as the “nightmare” of dentists, since eating too many candies can cause tooth and health problems. However, some dentists, like Dr. Cheng Zhu, do not want to ruin the vibe of this special day.

“Halloween is a fun holiday for everyone including kids and adults. This is the only time people are willing to open their doors for any strangers without second thoughts. This is the only time people are willing to give generously without worrying about what they will get back in return,” said Zhu. “Over-eating candies will cause harm to people’ teeth such as broken teeth or cavities. Bad teeth can be fixed by dentists but when kids get diabetes, it will be hard to be cured completely. And it will most likely stick with them for the rest of life.”

Although dentists participate in Halloween as well, the problem should still be resolved.

“Kids could give their extra candies to their friends, parents and teachers so everyone can enjoy and share the burden of getting cavities and diabetes. Making sure to floss and brush teeth after eating candies [is a good way to stay healthy]. Don’t eat them before bedtime. It is best to eat them during daytime, and don’t forget to exercise to burn off extra calories.” said Zhu.

People can give excess candies to organizations in order to help those who do not have as many in order to prevent waste when getting rid of them.