The thought of visiting the dentist after a gangbuster night of trick or treating is enough to frighten any little ghost or goblin.
That’s why a growing number of dentists are sweetening the deal by offering to pay kids in exchange for their candy haul. An added bonus: The dentists promise to turn over the confections to Operation Gratitude, a nonprofit that puts together care packages for troops overseas.
About 3,000 dentists are participating in the program this year. To see if any are in your area, enter your zip code into the Halloween Candy Buyback site. Dentists will pay $1 per pound of wrapped candy, up to $5 per child. They’ll be collecting candy from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.
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“Ditch the candy, that’s what we’re saying,” Chris Kammer of Lifetime Family Dentistry in Middleton, Wisc., and founder of the Halloween Candy Buyback said in a statement. “Visiting your dentist twice a year and brushing daily are great preventive measures, but doing away with excess sweets altogether would really give your teeth a healthy boost.”
Limiting candy consumption not only promotes tooth health, but it could also help parents that are concerned about childhood obesity, which affects 8.4 percent of young children.
This year, there may be even more candy to collect: Americans are projected to spend $2.2 billion on treats for Halloween. Now, if only there were a good cause to donate the other $2 billion we spend on decorations.
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