Maintaining Healthy Teeth During the Holidays
The holidays can be a tricky time for our health for a lot of reasons. One area that ends up taking the brunt of a lot of overindulgences is our teeth. From sugary treats, festive beverages, and hard candies, our healthy teeth and gums can really take a beating.
Here are a few things you can do to protect your teeth this holiday season.
- Don’t forget the fruits and veggies. We know that the plate of cookies looks so enticing, and that’s more than okay. Be sure to balance out your choices with crunchy vegetables and fruits, so you’re still getting all those healthy vitamins.
- Bottoms up. All kinds of festive drinks happen during the holidays, from adult cocktails to hot chocolate, but none of these should be more important than water. Water helps to clean out your mouth and stops mouth-dwelling bacteria from turning acidic and damaging your enamel.
- Keep up your routine. It’s easy to let good habits fall to the wayside with all the fun, but remember to brush properly, and floss helps protect your teeth. Cavities won’t be taking a break while you do, so rather than letting all that extra sugar turn into acid and damage your teeth, be sure to regularly brush and floss.
- Get your check-up. You might not be thinking about everything you have to do post-holidays, but now is a great time to schedule your check-up. Get your routine cleaning in, and have those pearly whites checked out so prevention can help before any issues get totally out of control and you need a more serious dental intervention.
- Don’t use your teeth for that. We know how easy it is to run out of hands to hold things and open things, but your teeth aren’t an all-purpose tool. Sure, it’s easy to chomp down on that cork or rip open a package with your teeth, but that’s not the best way to treat your teeth well. Too much of this will weaken the enamel on your teeth and cause a lot of damage.
- Opt for light-colored beverages. Maybe you’ve spent a lot of time and money on whitening your teeth this year. If that’s the case, you don’t want to undo all that hard work. Opt for beverages, such as wine and mixers, that are lighter in color. Prevent additional staining from one too many glasses of red wine or cranberry juice.
- Cheese is your friend. It’s probably not often you hear this, but if you’re imbibing, have a little cheese along with your beverage or between each sip. Cheese is excellent at neutralizing the acid in many sugary drinks, thus preventing a major holiday dental mishap.
Visit Lans Family Dentistry
A little bit of forethought goes a long way. Whether you’ve been on a long dental journey, or you simply want to maintain a healthy smile, consider the above tips of the trade and keep smiling all year long. Let Lans Family Dentistry help with your healthy teeth.