Give kids stickers instead of sweets this Halloween, doctors say

Trick or treaters should be offered stickers instead of sweets on Halloween to help save their teeth, according to leading dental surgeons.

The Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS) has offered tips to help children avoid tooth decay as youngsters prepare to collect a bounty of sugary treats while going door to door this October 31. The advice includes avoiding lollipops and sweets that can get stuck to teeth, along with encouraging kids to wash down the treats with water instead of sugary fizzy drinks.

And, in a tip that is likely to prove unpopular with kids across the country, the college’s Faculty of Dental Surgery also said the public can do their part by handing out stickers or playdough instead of sweets on Halloween.

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Dr Charlotte Eckhardt, dean of the Faculty of Dental Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said: “Although we don’t want to be too draconian about one night of festivities, it is a good reminder that this should be regarded as an occasion and not the norm, you want to avoid sugar grazing as that’s more problematic for oral health.

“One of the best things you can do is to avoid lollipops, as their prolonged consumption exposes children’s teeth to sugar for longer, increasing the risk of tooth decay.”

The RCS pointed out that tooth decay is the leading cause for hospital admissions among children. In 2023/24, some 19,381 children aged five to nine in England were admitted to hospital because of tooth decay according to NHS England data.