Foods are a daily decision we make… from what we will eat in the morning to midnight snacks. Between meals and mid-day snacks, we often forget to think about our oral health and how these foods affect it. We have put together some helpful tips and reminders for you for this festive season to keep your teeth looking great and healthy for those holiday pictures!
Sweet Tooth
With the holidays rapidly approaching, we can’t help but think about all the delicious goodies that come along with it. From Thanksgiving sweet yams and pumpkin pies to Christmas fudge and candies. However, what we fail to think about or just ignore, is our oral health which can be affected by these sweet treasures.
While your dentist thinks about this all the time, we tend to push off our oral health until we come face to face or mouth to face with our dentist AFTER the holidays. Dentists are concerned with how much sugar-filled sodas, candies and foods we are consuming daily. Most foods contain some type of sugar in them, even your veggies can contain sugar but we have to have them to fill our nutrients intake. These sugars, as time goes on, start to decay our teeth. To help control your intake, start reading labels and just become a little more cautious about how much sugar you are actually consuming. These sweets can go hand in hand when it comes to tooth breakage or decay. Consuming too many sweets, while at the time seems harmless, is actually working full force against your teeth.
To help prevent dental emergencies: make sure you are brushing your teeth daily and if possible twice a day. We recommend brushing before bed. Set reminders in your phone if you need to and eventually it will become a habit!
Sweet & SALTY
Thanksgiving is right around the corner and while those pies and apple crisps are oh so tasty, they can be damaging to your teeth. We tend to have our salty foods before all the sweets. While the sweets can affect our teeth, so can the salty foods. The salt itself does not damage enamel, but the sodium that comes along with the salty foods does.
While a lot of us like to snack throughout the holiday season, with all the leftover goodies, we have to be aware that our favorite foods are typically the ones with the most salt and sugar. Those high-salt snacks we reach for in the cupboard encourage oral bacteria and acid production in the mouth. The carbohydrates, that are often found in the pre-packaged snacks build up plaque on the teeth throughout the day which can damage your gums and enamel. Salty foods such as popcorn, chips, Chex Mix and more can get stuck up in your teeth and even wedged into your gums. Sounds annoying and sometimes even painful, right?
To help prevent dental emergencies: Take up flossing daily and be attentive of the foods you consume. Make flossing a part of your daily routine and consider getting those individual flossing tools and keeping them with you on the go for after meals!
Holidays with a Smile
No worries, we aren’t telling you to completely skip out on all the holiday goodies and foods, but before you indulge in your holiday snacks, talk to your dentist and get some advice on your teeth. Dental emergencies are bound to happen if you don’t take proper precautions.
Remember to: brush daily, twice if possible, floss away those pesky foods and cut back on those pre-packaged sugar and salt filled snacks. Follow these guidelines and after the holidays are long and gone, you will still have that winning smile to flash for your next holiday Christmas Card!
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