October 31 marks the night that ghouls and goblins fill neighborhoods asking for treats and if their demands are not met, tricks may be delivered in return. While some of those Halloween revelers may choose to dress as a pretty princess or a dashing hero, many celebrants prefer the darker side of the holiday and want to dress to accordingly. In those cases, temporarily altering the appearance of teeth is the best way to complete the look and there are plenty of options available to create a spooky smile, no dentist visit or tooth extractions required.

Halloween excluded, healthy looking teeth are one of the most important physical attributes a person can have. Smiles have long been cited as one of the first features noticed by strangers and a majority of the population think that dental health and oral appearance are vital factors for getting ahead romantically, professionally and in every aspect of life. However, when it comes to Ol’ Hallows Eve, teeth that look like they are filled with dental problems are all the fashionable rage.

Tooth Black-Out

Most people choose to follow regular oral hygiene including brushing, flossing and regular visits to the local dental clinic to ensure that teeth are clean and in good health to avoid dental problems such as tooth decay and gum disease. Those behaviors will minimize the risk of developing dental woes and associated problems like permanent tooth loss. Fortunately, those looking to get less than flawless teeth on Halloween do not have to throw caution to the wind as a tooth black-out wax will make teeth look terrifically horrible!

Tooth blackout is simply a black wax that can be scooped from the container, rolled into a small ball to in between finger tips and then applied to a dry and clean tooth surface to give the appearance that lackluster oral hygiene has taken effect. The oral make-up is cheap (it only costs a couple of bucks), is readily available and can be used to contribute to a number of costumes including witches, tramps, clowns, warlocks, old hags or hillbillies.

Fangs

Long before there were Diaries or Sookie Stackhouse had her option of gorgeous vampires to choose from, Dracula was the king of the undead. Dracula is the world’s most notorious vampire, whose character was reportedly based on Romanian prince, Vlad the Impaler who lived from 1431 to1476. Overtime, the character has evolved to walk at night in order to feast on the blood of humans courtesy of the elongated canine teeth present. To this day, the Vampire mystique is highly popular and is an important part to many forms of entertainment and Halloween costumes.

While some individuals have paid big money for cosmetic dentistry to create permanent fangs to look Vampire-like year round, individuals looking for temporary fangs can find several options to create the look without requiring dental treatments. Some choices include individual fake teeth that sell for about $20 that can be temporarily adhered to incisors via an adhesive to complete sets of fake fangs that simply be placed into a person’s mouth and cost just a few dollars a pop.

Wax Lips

Before there was Botox, oversized lips were easy to get thanks to a wax lip novelty created by the American Candy Company. During the early 20th century, wax lips hit the market as type of gag novelty to help individuals quickly create a silly looking mouth and riotous good times. The devices were designed not only for their look but also as primitive chewing gum as the devices could be safely chewed upon after wearing. The product is currently marketed as Wack-O-Wax and consumers can choose designs including an over sized pucker, fangs, bloody vampire teeth, replete with mustaches or designed to have buckteeth. The devices cost less than a dollar a piece and can be used to complete a costume or as a tooth-savvy Halloween treat giveaway.

No matter what costume is being worn that evening, parents need to take precautions to ensure that their children stay safe and minimize dental health risks associated with the annual celebration. One way to prepare for the latter is making sure kids get a dental check up to ensure their teeth are up to snuff and by keeping a watchful eye on what types of Halloween candy is consumed, how much is eaten and the pattern of the consumption.

For more tips regarding Halloween oral hygiene or general dental health, a trip to the dentist is in order.