Dental Tips for the Holidays

1. Eat Food That are Teeth-Friendly

Besides being good for the body, crunchy fruits and vegetables act as natural toothbrushes and help to balance out less healthy splurges.

2. Avoid Sticky, chewy or sugary foods.

Holiday candy and cookies may taste great but they aren't friends for teeth and gums.

3. Avoid chewing on hard candy or ice cubes.

Crunching on ice or hard candy can lead to cracked or chipped teeth, which are painful and pricey to treat. Whether you’re enjoying a sweet or finishing the ice in your holiday cocktail, let it dissolve naturally. Better yet, skip these items altogether. Ice can cause discomfort for sensitive teeth, and hard candies promote tooth decay.

4. Drink Plenty of Water Daily

Water makes the skin looking bright, freshen your breath, aid in digestion, helps to flush out impurities in your body and can clean away newly formed bacteria in your mouth.

5. Use proper tools to open packages, bottles and nuts.

It can be exciting to open presents and packages, but your teeth aren’t the right tools for the task. Gripping a package or stubborn bottle cap with teeth can crack them, possibly requiring a root canal or crown.

Same for nuts. You shouldn’t use you teeth to shell them. The hard surface of most nutshells can cause serious tooth and gum damage and may also crack teeth.

With time, this using your teeth to open tough items will weaken the enamel and the more fragile edges of your teeth. This can lead to breakage, and an expensive cosmetic repair job.

Give your mouth a gift — reach for scissors, a bottle opener, the nutcracker or whatever tool suited to the task that ISN'T your teeth.

6. Chew Cinnamon Gum

Not only does cinnamon gum can keep your breath fresher for longer, it contains an ingredient called “cinnamon aldehyde.” This is the essential oil that gives the gum that crisp, spicy flavor, but it does more than wake up your salivary glands. It can also hunt down and destroy cavity-forming bacteria. This is a great way to keep bacteria formation to a minimum in between brushes.

7. Choose Light-Colored Or Clear Beverages

To keep your teeth as white as possible this holiday season, opt for light-colored or clear beverages. They will still be very tasty, but they won’t leave your teeth looking any the worse for wear.

8. When Drinking, Nibble On Cheese

Cheese plate

Adult beverages often have high acid content, which over time to wear away at  protective tooth enamel. To cut the acid content, nibble on a chunk of cheese in between sips. The alkaline in the cheese neutralizes the acid in the beverage. And the two go well together.

9. Stick To Your Daily Oral Health Routine

Set an intention to stick to your daily oral health routine. Floss twice each day, brush your teeth and tongue, and gargle with a rinse.

10. Schedule Your Post-Holiday Checkup & Cleaning Now

Put it on the calendar now and schedule your post-holiday cleaning and check-up. Once the holidays are over, a visit will help to scrape and wash all the holiday goo.