(Santa Fe) - The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) urges children and their parents to keep their Halloween fun but healthy.

"Halloween is a great opportunity for parents to talk to their children about eating healthy and promoting good oral hygiene that will lead to healthy teeth," said Department of Health Cabinet Secretary Lynn Gallagher. "The message isn't that candy is bad, but that candy and other sweets in excess can lead to cavities."

The Department of Health's Office of Oral Health recommends the following tips for healthy teeth:

• After the children get back from trick or treating or a party, parents should go through the candy and help them pick the treats that they want and donate the rest of the candy to a food bank or turn it in to your local dentist.
• Set a time with your children when to eat the candy and monitor how much they eat at a time.
• After they eat their treats encourage them to brush and floss their teeth and drink plenty of water.
• Promote healthy eating during or after the Halloween event, eat more fruits and vegetables, drink tap water.
• All family members should see a dentist every six months.

"With Halloween, it is hard to say no to candy and in many cases even more challenging to motivate our kids to brush correctly for the recommended two full minutes," said Office of Oral Health Program Director, Rudy Blea. "However, the longer teeth are exposed to sugar, the longer bacteria can feed on it and can start producing cavity-causing acid."

For more information, visit NMDOH's Office of Oral Health page at http://nmhealth.org/about/phd/hsb/ooh/