One Dentist Wants To Protect Everyone's Sweet Tooth

Saving mouths one tooth at a time, a dentist in Idaho is paying kids for their excess Halloween candy by the pound, reports Idaho News. In exchange for one pound of candy, kids can earn a dollar and win prizes like gift cards and freebies from local businesses.

Normally, I'd say that telling kids not to eat too much candy on Halloween is some lame party-pooper attitude, but in this case I have to make an exception. All the candy is going toward a greater cause, after all: the Meridian, Idaho dentist will be sending the candy to troops overseas and encourages kids to write letters to send the troops as well.

"We love getting together with the kids, having them bring in their costumes, watching them write letters to the troops, and just have a great time with the kids and watching the joy that can come from giving," said Dr. Grant, owner of Grant Dental. The prizes kids can earn for exchanging their candy are a pretty good trade-off, too. Trick-or-treat exchangers can get freebies from Sonic and Big Al's, while costume contest winners earn themselves gift cards to Crumbl Cookies.

The candy buy-back program is a post-Halloween cleanup that might actually put the candy to better use. I mean, how many of us still have a stash of pumpkin- and ghost-shaped treats just sitting in a jar somewhere come Valentine's Day? Guilty as charged.

In true dentistry fashion, though, this Candy buy-back program also sends kids home with a child's toothbrush and toothpaste. Less exciting, but pretty typical for most programs like this one. "If we don't have good oral health, that can really affect other major organ systems and it can cause illness," Dr. Grant said. Hey, whatever gets kids to put down the Skittles and pick up the floss.