As the year winds down and the holiday season approaches, now is the perfect time to give your smile the care and attention it deserves. At Houston Dentists…
Following these ten basic dental tips might help you enjoy the holidays without compromising your oral health.
1. Teeth-Friendly Foods
Holidays are a terrific time to socialize and eat.
Allow yourself a treat that won’t come around again for a year. But remember to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables (carrots are a favorite), whole grains, and water. Smile and save!
2. Avoid These Dental No-Nos
These foods are bad for your teeth and gums. Other Christmas favorites include candy canes, mint chews, ice cubes, and chestnuts.
These annual treats are hard to resist. Imagining a candy cane (or any other off-limits item) as a pricey dental filling can act as a good deterrent.
3. Keep your oral hygiene routine
Make it a habit to brush your teeth every day. While twice-daily flossing, brushing, and gargling may not be fun, they are beneficial to your teeth and gums.
If you plan ahead of time, you may have a healthy mouth in the New Year.
4. Schedule Your Post-Vacation Cleaning Now
Given your experience, you’re presumably aware of your workload. While you may have the best of intentions, you may fail to properly floss, brush, gargle, or conduct other oral hygiene tasks.
Okay. So you can start the New Year with clean, bright, cavity-free teeth, you may schedule your post-holiday cleaning and exam now.
5. Hydrate
This is especially true over the holidays, when you want to look and feel your best. Water, for example, keeps skin moisturized.
Water aids digestion and urination. Eating more water isn’t the only option. Water can help wash away new bacteria, sparing you a dentist visit and a sore tooth.
6. Don’t Open Presents With Your Teeth
Teeth help with eating and speaking. But they’re useless. It’s not advisable to use your teeth to open bottles, packages, or snack bags.
Enamel will be weakened, causing cracking and breaking, and costly aesthetic repairs.
7. Chew Sugar Free Cinnamon Gum
The gum contains “cinnamon aldehyde.” But it does more than that. It helps kill cavity-causing germs. This is a great way to keep bacteria away from brushes.
This is fantastic if you can’t resist that garlicky dip!
8. Clear Or Light-Colored Drinks
The last thing you want to think about on New Year’s morning is why your once-white teeth are now a faint pink. Yes, the antioxidants in red wine and cranberry juice are known to fight cancer. Beide stains teeth and can quickly reverse a year’s worth of progress.
Drink light-colored or clear beverages to keep your teeth white. They’ll still be tasty but won’t hurt your teeth.
9. Cheesy Snacks While Sipping
Everyone appreciates a Christmas eggnog or champagne. But acidic drinks are known to erode dental enamel.
A cheese chunk will help temper the acidity. The cheese’s alkaline neutralizes the liquid’s acid. Plus, they’re both tasty!
10. Party Toothbrushes
Like most individuals, you won’t be at home idling away the next holidays. Each night, you won’t want to brush, floss, or gargle.
So… Bringing a portable teeth cleaning kit to events is a great compromise. This can help you remember to wash your teeth throughout this busy season.
