Caring for your teeth over the Festive Season  

The holiday period is a fun time meeting up with family and friends and indulging in food and drink. In this busy period we often forget about our dental health, making our teeth vulnerable to damage. Below are some tips on how to avoid getting into problems.

Teeth Crackers

Toffees

Sweets and chocolates are readily available during the festive period, whether at home as treats or tubs passed around the office. Many people who usually don’t eat toffees are unpleasantly surprised when popping a treat in their mouth they suddenly realise they’ve lost a filling or broken a tooth.

Nuts

Nuts are a Christmas Classic for cracking teeth. Be very careful while eating or consider avoiding hard nuts and go for softer options.

Crackling

Well cooked crispy crackling is another Christmas Classic teeth cracker.

Overindulgence

Sugar drinks and sweet treats are around in plentiful during the festive period. Sugar produces acids that causes tooth decay. If having chocolates, try to go for dark chocolate with high cocoa content as it can be less damaging to teeth. Diet sugar drinks may help to avoid the decay factor but they erode enamel tooth surface, causing tooth wear.

Limit your consumption of coffee, tea and red wine as these drinks can easily stain  your teeth. Smoking will also stain teeth, so perhaps make a start to that new year resolution ‘stop smoking’ before the new year begins !

Homecare routine

With the festive season being such a busy time preparing for the big day and enjoying all the parties before and after, it’s all too easy to lapse the daily homecare routine. Ensure you brush your teeth before going to bed, no matter how late you get in after that fun party. Also remember to clean inbetween your teeth with interdental brushes or floss.

Summary

Try to limit the amount and frequency of sugar drinks and foods.

Ensure your clean your teeth daily with a fluoride toothpaste.

Drink lots of water in between all the treats to help remove harmful acids produced when consuming sugar.

Enjoy the Festive Celebrations and remember to book your routine dentist visit in the New Year !