This East Valley dentist will buy your kids’ extra Halloween candy
Nov 1, 2019, 4:25 AM | Updated: Nov 4, 2019, 8:12 am
(Pixabay Photo)
(Pixabay Photo)
PHOENIX – It’s a regular post-Halloween conundrum: You don’t want your kids to eat all that candy they collected, but you can’t bring yourself to throw it away.
An East Valley dentist has a solution that promotes dental health and supports U.S. military members.
Islands Pediatric Dentistry in Gilbert will buy that unwanted candy and donate it to Operation Gratitude, a nonprofit that puts the sweets in care packages for American troops.
“Last year was the first year we did this, and we collected about 150 pounds of candy,” Dr. Hamed Rezakhan told KTAR News 92.3 FM on Wednesday.
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Kids who sell their treats will also receive a free hygiene kit and a prize.
The office at Elliot and McQueen roads will buy candy at a rate of $1 per pound, up to $5, on Friday and Monday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Rezakhan, who goes by Dr. Rez, said parents appreciate the program because it allows kids to enjoy the fun of the holiday while avoiding the health issues that can result from of excessive sugar consumption.
“They realize that trick-or-treating and dressing up and collection candy is fun but eating the candy for a long period of time and having it around the house, it only leads to more problems,” he said.
Rezakhan recommends minimizing the frequency and duration of candy eating to reduce the risk of cavities and other ill effects sugar binging can have on kids’ bodies.
“It’s much better to allow the kids 15 minutes to eat the candy that they want and then brush their teeth and be done with it for the day rather than our children grazing on the candy throughout the day,” he said.
He also said it’s preferable to limit sweets to the kind that can be quickly chewed and swallowed and avoid the sticky stuff such as Tootsie Rolls and Laffy Taffy.
“It’s much better to eat a candy that only lasts in our mouths for a few minutes rather than a sticky candy or a hard candy that it takes a long time to consume,” he said.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Griselda Zetino contributed to this report.
