The holiday season is upon us, and with it comes a wide variety of delicious food and goodies. Just thinking of all the candy cane and hot chocolate has our taste buds tingling and our teeth cowering in dread.
While dental care may be the last thing on your mind right now, you can still take a few small steps every day to ensure your teeth and gum health while you continue to enjoy the holidays. After all, the holidays are when your smile should be at its brightest.
Eat healthily:
Holiday foods are awaited all year long, and we often binge without thinking about calories or the damage they might cause to our teeth.
While we definitely don’t recommend skipping out on any decadent food, make sure to balance it out by filling half your plate with crunchy fruits and veggies, whole grains, and drinking lots of water.
Avoid these foods:
Sweet, sticky, hard, chewy, and sugary foods satisfy our souls, but our teeth? Not so much. Try to avoid the kind of foods that your dentist might disapprove of, such as candy canes, mints, chestnuts, ice cubes, and other similar Holiday foods.
While we understand that candy canes only come around once a year, try to limit your consumption. Whenever you’re about to give in, just imagine yourself sitting in the dentist’s chair for a filling to deter you off them.
Brush your teeth daily:
And continue your daily oral health routine to the best of your abilities. Brush your teeth twice daily, and floss to get any food remnants out of the nooks and crannies.
Try to incorporate a mouth wash with a minty taste for a festive touch to your dental care.
Don’t use your teeth to open presents:
Don’t disrespect your teeth by turning them into tools to open bottles, packages, snack bags, or to tear tape.
While teeth are pretty strong to help you chew food, using them for miscellaneous items will weaken the enamel and lead to breakage and cracking of the weaker bits.
Sip on light-colored or clear beverages:
You don’t want that expensive teeth whitening treatment to go to waste. The holidays are the perfect time to flaunt your white teeth, so avoid drinks that can stain your teeth and undo all your teeth whitening efforts throughout the year.
However, if you’re reading this after the damage has been done, you might want to visit West Hills Smiles in Calabasas for a teeth whitening treatment. We promise we won’t judge you for all the damage your teeth may have suffered through the Holidays and will provide a complete dental treatment. Call us at (818) 346-4303 to book your appointment today!