That's a nice idea
I had no kids had mini Kit Kat and little boxes of Milk Duds and packaged popcorn balls .
I'l save the KK and pc balls for me but throw out the milk duds. I had one of the boxes and they are like small cho covered bullets. Can't remember them being so hard. I'm glad I didn't give any of these tooth breakers out tonight. Son in Fla had over 120 kids.

Cal me a dental humbug.

Two pounds of basic Halloween candy like Tootsie Pops run around 5 dollars. Mini chocolate bars get more expensive per pound around 3 dollars per pound or more.

So the dentist preys on parents fears, pretty much tells them they don't have the common sense to oversee their own kids candy intake and gets a bunch of free advertising in the media etc.

The dentist pays 1 dollar for candy people went out and paid at least double that and in many cases much more so dentist can send it to the troops and gain credit for that. Maybe even a nice charitable tax write off if they do really well at it.

Children's teeth and our troops. Who could resist? ME.

If groups want to include Halloween candy in care packages then be up front and ask people to donate an extra bag or two at drop offs in stores and such.

To tell kids they can go trick or treating and then con them into giving up their candy when they can't possibly do the math is wrong on so many counts in my book.

The whole process is unethical.

Patents need to take responsibility for what their kids eat and how much and not use these kinds of schemes to abdicate that responsibility.

When I buy Halloween candy for the kids then I expect them to get to keep it. If the parents want them to collect for donating to some cause then their bags/pumpkins/buckets should clearly state it. And the kids should be told the truth. They are collecting candy for charity, not themselves. They are being paid below minimum wage to do so and are uninformed "volunteers".

Using children is despicable.

My neighbor has a son in the military and what left over candy we or any of the other nieghbors have, we give to her to send in her weekly care packages. Today, most stores put the halloween candy at 50% off so I'll pick a few more bags to give. Her son is in the K-9 unit so we collect goodies for the dogs as well.

Well, it's been mentioned on the local tv news as well as national. And there is a website you can go to to find the dentist who are willing and for a good cause to send to our troops in Afghanistan.

So some people think it is for a good cause.

I do, Glenda. I think that it is time that we stop looking for an ugly ulterior motive everywhere. Teaching children to give up their candy for a greater good can't be a bad thing. We don't buy candy for trick or treaters because we don't get kids at our door. But I do think that I will buy some candy and drop it off at our local dentist, who is part of this program, and forego the $1 a pound.

I don't feel sorry for the kids taking candy to the dentists. I've heard they often high grade the candy before they take it to the dentist. Last year's Halloween, Christmas, and Easter candy get thrown in the mix.

I do buy after holiday candy. We have Blue Star Mothers that send it to the troops along with other care packages of goodies and fun stuff. They ask us to save the extra packages of condiments from take out meals to send to the troops.

Good grief, wildchild - now it's the dentists involving kids in nefarious schemes. Some kids get mountains of loot to eat their fill of and even set aside some favorites. And, yes, maybe this could be a teachable moment - sharing.

For those of you on this forum who aren't as jaded about life in general as some of the friendly people over on Hot Topics, maybe a soldier surprising an Afghani child with a Tootsie Pop could make the world a little wider than the width of your shoulders.

our grands always get more candy than they'd eat..and i seriously doubt if parents would be as stupid as you think wc, to take away the entire contents of the kids loot to turn in to the dentists...

and so what if the dentists do get some free advertizing? just because a local dentist does something for charity, certainly doesn't mean we're going to rush to his office and become patients...

I think if anyone wants to send candy to the troops they should just walk down to the nearest shops and buy all the leftover candy that is on sale and super cheap. When I was a kid, Halloween was a big deal......Our candy lasted for days on end and it was not something that we had all the time....My Mother made sure that we ate it when she wanted us to have it but the truth is, she didn't have to because we were so thrilled to have all that candy, we made it last forever. We picked through it and traded with each other and with friends...

I understand the thought behind the buy it back program but I say "Leave the candy for the kids.......If they have to much..throw some of it in the freezer for later....and let everyone go buy candy for the troops..

Would not hurt you if you looked at the link before passing judgment.

Here is a link that might be useful: Halloween can buy back

I too have mixed feelings taking candy to any Dentist's office. All the candy should be checked out before they send it over to the service people. Coming from a very large city (Los Angeles), they use to Xray all the candy and discouraged sending it to others because of drugs and needles. Yes it does happen more that we think it should. We just sent a bunch of stuff to Iraq to a orphanage, but it was done thur the church and the Air Force Base. Sorry about the negativism, but all of us do need to be careful. Extra candy can go to local needs by the people who choose to do so.

Looked at that link and many others to be sure I had my facts straight before posting.

It's a "feel good" thing that benefits the business (dentist)and really has nothing to do with cavities.
A simple toothbrush can take care of that. Some dentists even giving out coupons for a few dollars off if you visit them for a procedure. Dental spam based on junk science that candy is a leading cause of cavities. It's not.

Ruthie is right. Go buy the candy on sale and donate it directly.

I don't know... either give something or don't... getting a dollar back per pound kind of takes away the charity aspect but really isn't enough to hassle with it for financial reasons.

Plus, I would think with the postage, the processing, and the verfiying that the candy was safe, etc...it would cost more than the candy to begin with.

I think it's "funny" and kind of cute that dentists are involved... but like many fundraisers nowadays, they sometimes cost more than they are worth. I would be way more likely to participate in a fundraiser--even at a Dentist's office that collects money/cash that would go to Mars Candy or one of the big candy companies to have them send the troops candy directly.