Holiday Tooth Tips

It is a wonderful time of the year again.  The weather is getting cooler and the leaves are starting to turn.  The Holiday season has come upon us and that means fun times are ahead.  I love this time of year and spending extra time with family and friends.  Usually, I find myself eating and drinking a bit too much and getting a little unhealthy in the weight area.  But one area that many of us don't think about enough during this time of year is our dental health.  This area gets neglected a bit too much and I am finding that it is time to really start paying attention this year.  With the COVID-19 pandemic, I am more focused on my health than ever and I want to ensure that we are staying healthy as much as we can.  So let me go over a few tips.

 

Really one of the best things you can do is to make sure you are staying hydrated this Holiday season.  There are so many good reasons for this but many have to do with your dental health.  Rinsing the excess sugar and bacteria out of your mouth is really a great thing.  If you are eating lots of sugary foods, it really is best to help get those off your teeth so they don't start eating away at your enamel.  No one likes cavities and they can certainly be expensive to get filled in.  So by drinking water you can help in that arena.

 

Another thing that water does for you is to keep you hydrated.  This is a big deal for your dental health because staying hydrated means having good saliva flow.  Saliva is the natural rinsing agent for your mouth.  If you find yourself dehydrated your mouth with get dry and the bacteria is more likely to grow and eat away at you.  This is really important for your health and can be a great way to stay on top of the whole dental issues during the holidays.

Now it should be known that using your teeth for things other than eating is probably a bad idea.  How many people open packages with their teeth? I a whole lot of people do and some people even open corks or cans with them as well.  I can't stress enough how bad of an idea it is to use your teeth as an opener.  What will happen is that your teeth will simply weaken and start to chip away. That is not a great thing and can be very costly especially if you take a big chip out.  No one likes to look a bucktooth due to a silly opening error.

 

Chose the best drinks for you.  Now for your teeth and when they are concerned light-colored or clear drinks are simply best.  Staining is real and it happens all the time.  If you are drinking extra cups of coffee or red wine during the holidays your teeth with certainly suffer for it. Now, this can be so hard to do and if you can and it is not to bad looking use a straw.  At least it will keep the staining from your mouth.  That is a great way to start and to help keep your nice white teeth white for all those family photos.