Sweetest Day – It’s a National Lovely Holiday!
History of The Sweetest Day:
Sweetest Day to put it simply is always observed on the third Saturday in October. It’s a day to be sweet by sharing a kind thought, a small gift, or a gesture of kindness. It’s a day to give a card with a sweet message to someone you appreciate. Little gifts of candy and other sweets are shared, as well.
It hails from all the way back in 1922 when a dozen of Cleveland’s candy companies banded together to make the day a little sweeter for some of the city’s most vulnerable people. they distributed more than 20,000 boxes of candy to “newsboys, orphans, old folks, and the poor.”
Legend has it that Sweetest Day was established by Herbert Birch Kingston, a Cleveland, Ohio candy company employee who wanted to bring happiness to the lives of those who often were forgotten. Kingston and others distributed candy and small gifts to orphans, people confined to their homes and others to show them that someone cared.
- “1921”: Cleveland’s Candy Day, A committee of 12 confectioners in Cleveland stage the world’s first Sweetest Day by distributing 20,000 boxes of candy.
- “1922”: Sweetest Day Tries to Go National, Efforts to spread the Sweetest Day phenomenon beyond the Midwest meet a lukewarm reception.
- In the Early “1930s”: movie stars got into the act. Ann Pennington distributed candy to 2,200 Cleveland newspaper boys, and Theda Bara gave candy to theatergoers and patients in Cleveland hospitals.
- “1937”: Sweetest Day Tries for the Week, Efforts by the candy industry to kickstart “sweetest week” also fall flat by the candy industry, but it’s sort of sweet that they tried.
What is The Sweetest Day?
Sweetest Day is an original American holiday not based on any group’s religious tradition. It’s simply a reminder that a thoughtful word, deed, or small gift enriches the life of the recipient as well as the person giving it.
The idea caught on with movie celebrities during the early days of the talkies. Starlets like Theda Bara, who was known as a “bad girl” of film, was often seen distributing candy to people attending movies or plays as well as giving treats to patients in hospitals.
Eventually, the idea of Sweetest Day as a vehicle for promoting smiles and good vibes took solid root in the country’s mid-section. Areas like Michigan, Indiana and Ohio really fused the meaning of the day with good, old-fashioned mid-western values like honesty and caring for your neighbors.
Sweetest Day is now almost synonymous with Valentine’s Day. Folks give flowers, small gifts, love trinkets and, of course, candy to those they care about most. But Sweetest Day, also has that added emphasis on helping those in need with material gifts as well as giving moral support to those who may not have the easiest lives. Every little bit helps and it’s something to remember on one of our Sweetest Days.
Observance of Sweetest Day is still most prevalent in the Great Lakes region where the holiday originated, including Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin. But today, the once-regional celebration of Sweetest Day, has spread throughout the country.
Sweetest Day celebrations are like Valentine’s Day in most locations, with the most popular gifts and acknowledgements being cards, flowers, chocolates, and candy.
How to Enjoy Sweetest Day & Protect Your Teeth?
When you eat Sweets or Sugary foods, naturally occurring bacteria in the mouth feed on the sugar and create acids as a by-product. These acids then wear down the tooth enamel, making it weaker and more susceptible to tooth decay as well as a host of other problems, including gingivitis.
Snacking on sweets throughout the day or during an extended period is especially harmful, since damaging acids form in the mouth every time you eat a sugary snack.
Believe it or not, sugar does not cause cavities. The belief that sugar exposure is the direct cause of tooth decay is one of the most widely held myths in dentistry.
The truth is sugar exposure only causes tooth decay when the mouth has an abundance of cavity causing bacteria that can process that sugar into enamel demineralizing acids and/or sugar is consumed in large amounts frequently throughout the day. Individuals that do not have a high bacterial challenge or a high quantity of cavity causing bacteria on their teeth are at lower risk for sugar consumption causing cavities.
With all the holiday parties and family gatherings this time of year brings, your dentist in ASH Dental Irvine understands just how difficult saying no to all those tasty treats can be. While it can certainly be difficult to just limit yourself to one or two of the treats that pop up in the office break room or that you receive as a Secret Santa gift, there are a few steps you can take to help protect your oral health from the sugar rush that comes along with the holidays.
Tips For Protecting Your Teeth From Sweets:
If there is one thing you can guarantee in the Sweetest Day, it is that you will have a lot of access to candy and sweet desserts. It is a great time of year to indulge in these things but if you are not careful, all that sugar can cause some damage to your teeth.
If you are going to enjoy some sweets, Dr. A. Sami & all Our team-oriented staff reminds you of these tips to keep your teeth healthy and cavity free:
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Balance Out Your Sweets with Other Foods:
There are sweets everywhere this time of year, but that does not mean that you need to eat them every time they are available. Remember to consume these things in moderation. Try only having one dessert a day or having a smaller portion of a few items if you really want to taste everything at a holiday party. The more sweets you eat, the more you will be prone to excess plaque buildup. With more plaque, there is more of a chance of dental damage.
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Brush & Floss Regularly:
You might be busier during the holidays, but if you’re eating more sweets you don’t want to fall behind on your brushing and flossing routine. Each time you brush, you want to make sure you’re removing particles from between your teeth that can cause tooth decay.
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Drink Plenty of Water:
Are you drinking water every time you eat? Not only is water great for keeping you hydrated, but it can also help protect your teeth. The fluoride in the water is good for your teeth and the water will help remove any leftover debris from anything you’ve eaten — including sweets.
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Rinsing using Mouthwash:
If you do always not want to carry around a toothbrush with you, a good alternative for removing the sugar from your teeth is to use mouthwash.
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Make Dessert Part of the Meal:
Serving dessert along with dinner is one way of how to prevent cavities; it can help prevent sugar from lingering on your child’s teeth and causing plaque buildup. The longer the sugar remains on your child’s teeth, the more damage it will do. Eating sugary desserts as the last course in the meal means that sugar will be the last thing that your child eats, and it will linger on their teeth.
To help prevent the negative effects of sugar, serve dessert with the rest of the holiday meal. Eating other foods and drinks along with sweet treats can help prevent sugar from sticking to teeth. Other foods like cheese and milk contain compounds that can help neutralize acids, which can help combat tooth decay. -
Sleep and Sweets Don’t Mix:
Eating that late night before bed poses its own threat to tooth enamel. Because saliva plays such an important role in protecting your teeth from harm, eating at a time when your mouth is usually dry elevates the risk of damage. When we sleep, we tend to have dryer conditions in our mouth than while awake. Snorers and others who breathe through their mouths while sleeping are particularly likely to suffer from dry mouth at night. If you eat right before bed, even if it’s a regular meal, you increase the risk that your saliva won’t adequately rebalance your oral environment and cavity causing bacteria will cause you problems. Make sure you schedule your food early enough to give your oral environment time to settle, certainly no less than 30 minutes.
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Schedule a Dentist Visit:
Have you scheduled your regular dental check-up and Dental Cleaning to make sure your teeth are healthy and strong? Make an appointment for in-office Teeth Whitening Services so your teeth will be pearly white for all your holiday parties and family photos.
It’s hard to resist eating sweets during the Sweetest Day. Luckily, there are lots of cavity prevention tips that can help protect your Child’s Teeth from the harmful effects of all that extra sugar. You can’t expect your child to avoid indulging altogether, so instead, teach them healthy ways of how to prevent cavities after snacking.
Visiting the dentist twice each year if one of the best ways of how to prevent cavities.
Activities That You Can Do In This Day:
Since Sweetest Day is a little-known holiday in most of the country, many people have trouble figuring out the best way to honor the day. To get started, try these ideas for how to celebrate Sweetest Day:
- Give homemade sweets: When it comes to sweets, the only thing better than candy is homemade cakes, pastries, and desserts. If you can’t afford to buy something for Sweetest Day or want to do something more personal, baking homemade sweets is a thoughtful alternative. Breaking out the recipe book and baking something tasty from scratch is always a fantastic gift.
- Make a list of all your sweeties: If you’re really going to get the most out of Sweetest Day, it’s probably best to write a list of people you feel sweet towards. Rather than restricting yourself to a significant other, think about all the people you want to celebrate today. Who knows, maybe you can even use the day to make amends with a jerk coworker or two!? We’re big fans of spreading the sweetness as far and wide as possible.
- Distribute some candy: Ideally, you’re looking to give your candy out in sweet presentations such as in heart-shaped boxes, or with ribbons and bows attached. Remember that the objects of your sweet affections will be bowled over if you make a little extra effort, and since you’re doing this, let’s go big or go home, huh?
- Do something nice: Hey, you don’t just have to give candy, baked goods, and cards. Maybe you could take somebody out for the day or tell them you love them. There’s plenty of things you can do to make the day sweet without relying mainly on sugar. But, don’t forget the sugar. We’re clear on that, right. SUGAR!