| Fun Fact: Cotton Candy is a dentist’s creation. A dentist named William J. Morrison, born 1860, was president of the Tennessee State Dental Association in 1894 and something of a polymath and dabbler. In 1897, Morrison and his fellow Nashville confectioner, John C. Wharton, collaborated on an “electric candy machine,” which received a patent two years later. Their device melted sugar into a whirling central chamber and then used air to push the sugar through a screen into a metal bowl, where wisps of the treat accumulated. This snack was debuted as ‘Fairy Floss’ in 1904 at the World’s Fair. In the early 1920s, the original patent expired. Another dentist, Josef Lascaux of New Orleans, improved on the temperamental gadget, creating what we call today ‘Cotton Candy’. In 1949 Gold Medal Products finally made a more reliable machine by adding a spring-loaded base, and the Cincinnati-based company remains the top manufacturer of cotton candy machines today. A lot has changed in the field of dentistry since the creation of the sugary treat! Cotton candy as we know it today melts the second it hits your tongue bathing your teeth in sugar. While cotton candy won’t get stuck between teeth or in your braces like chewy candies, the sugary coating it leaves behind is just as bad. While in braces, it’s important to avoid sticky, sugary foods like cotton candy– you can still enjoy the circus without it! Learn more about the best options for braces from Olson Orthodontics! |