Simple Habits to Protect Your Teeth
The end of the year is here! Many people look forward to the holiday season because of extra family time, cozy traditions, special meals, and special sweets and drinks. Eggnog, champagne, cookies, candy trays, and buffet options are tremendous fun, but all that sugar, snacking, and sipping creates the perfect environment for potential dental disasters. How can you reduce dental risks during the treat season?
Holidays tend to push people towards more sweets, more alcohol, and more stress, while oral health receives less attention. Fortunately, adopting a few habits helps you keep your teeth in good shape. Here are some recommendations from the Yuba City Dentistry Group that will keep you smiling in pictures with family and friends!
Sip and Munch Smarter
After enjoying holiday drinks such as sparkling cider, hot chocolate, cocktails, or champagne, take a moment to think before you select your next drink. Following up a cold, iced drink or dessert with a hot drink or food item, or vice versa, can lead to cracked tooth enamel or damaged restorations due to the rapid changes in temperature. Therefore, it’s smart to allow your teeth to come back to normal body temperature if transitioning from hot to cold or cold to hot food and drink items.
Careful with What You Chew
We know this one is a hard one, but tough foods like rock candy, jawbreakers, big candy canes, or even some nuts can damage tooth enamel and especially restorations like fillings, crowns, and bridges. Sticky candies like caramels and taffy can also separate teeth from their repair work. So be careful when you eat hard or chewy candy and consider not eating any at all.
The other thing to watch for is do not use your teeth as tools! Our Yuba City emergency dental office can sew up your gums, tongue, cheeks, or lips if you lacerate them trying to open that stubborn plastic container, but believe us when we say it’s a painful way to cut yourself! You also should not show off by opening bottles with your teeth, nor should you crack hard nuts with your molars. Save that for the real nutcracker!
Take Care of Your Smile Year-Round
Keep your teeth bright, healthy, and ready for every season by avoiding the kind of holiday mistakes that lead to emergency dental visits. Watch out for cold foods and drinks followed by hot ones, and vice versa. Don’t use your teeth to open packages, bottles, or to crack nuts. If you have dental restorations, avoid chewy, sticky candies and always be careful when eating hard candies. Savor those hard candies rather than crunching them, so that they last longer! Follow these tips and you can stay out of the emergency dental chair during the holiday season!
