According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the average American eats 24 pounds of candy during the Halloween season.

America needs to wake up. Every year millions of children are encouraged to put their health on the line when they go door to door collecting pound after pound of sweets.

Halloween takes on an even more disturbing dimension when you consider tooth decay is the leading childhood illness in America. In 2004, a study conducted by the Boston School of Medicine found that US children have dental problems comparable to refugee children in third world countries.

Twenty - five percent of Americans have limited access to dental care, but the statistics are even worse in Oregon. In our state, four out of 10 adults lack dental insurance, three out of 10 children are not covered, and more than one out of every 10 rural Oregonians has never been to the dentist.

Considering America’s dental healthcare crisis, it might be a good idea to ban Halloween until everybody can afford to combat its health effects.

How sugar rots your teeth
Contrary to popular belief, the sugar substance does not directly affect your teeth. When you eat sugar, the bacteria in your mouth consume the sugar and begin to excrete acidic waste. These acids begin to dissolve your teeth’s enamel.

Hard candies that take a long time to dissolve in your mouth have the harshest affects on teeth. Avoid them this Halloween.

History of Tooth Decay
Although tooth ailments plagued ancient peoples, the severe epidemic of tooth decay started in the 1700s when American sugar plantations started exporting sugar on a global scale.

Solutions
This week Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, offered an amendment to the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education spending bill that would offer state aid to improve dental health.

This week’s Oregonian editorial suggested the state should start fluoridating its water, and chastised voters for not passing fluoridation legislation. Although Oregonians may be wary of fluoride, the Center for Disease Control ranked fluoridated water systems as one of the top 10 public health achievements of the 20th century.

Individually, Americans should floss more. Most people brush and rinse, but according to my dental hygienist, flossing is more important than both.

And finally, when it comes to Halloween, 24 pounds of sugar is just too much for a person to eat. Americans need to cut back on the sweets.