While this holiday season is going to look a bit different than past years, but it’s still important to make sure you’re keeping your smile healthy. Holidays usually involve more sweets and other hazards for your oral health. Dr. Kim Westermann of Westermann Family Dentistry, a dentist in Louisville, KY, discusses how you can make sure the holidays don’t ruin your smile.
Keep Up With Your Oral Health Routine
While you may not be traveling like normal, the holidays still involve a change of routine. You’re focusing on presents, family, and holiday cooking and it’s easy to forget the little things. Try to make sure you’re sticking to brushing at least twice a day and flossing as well. Try to brush after meals to remember a routine, or set an alarm on your phone for morning and evening to make sure you get the two a day in.
Use Tools to Open Presents
Particularly if your kids get an exciting new toy, they want to play with it right away. It can be tempting to just use your teeth to rip open the packaging and get to it faster. Biting down at the wrong angle or material being harder than expected can break or chip your teeth. The last thing you want to do is leave your holiday festivities for a trip to get a dental crown to fix a broken tooth.
Nutcrackers Exist for a Reason
Nuts are a pretty popular holiday snack. And it can be fun to try to challenge your family members to see who can crack the most with your teeth. But as with using your teeth to open packaging, it just takes one wrong bite down to have a serious problem. Winning a silly family rivalry isn’t worth the damage that could happen to your tooth.
Limit Holiday Snacks
Holidays come with things like cookies and candy. Sweets are some of the best foods for the holidays, but it’s important that you eat them in moderation. Particularly if you can’t brush your teeth right after eating, sugar can linger in your mouth and cause problems with tooth decay. Oral bacteria enjoy feeding off of sugar and emitting an acidic byproduct that helps to eat through your tooth enamel.
Drink Lots of Water
Water is one of the best things you can consume for both your oral and overall health. Holidays also usually contain a lot of punch, soda, or alcohol. While these are okay in moderation, make sure that you don’t overdo them. Whether you’re drinking or eating things with a lot of sugar, water is ideal to help rinse away food particles and excess sugar from your teeth.
Visit Your Louisville, Kentucky Dentist
Keeping up with your regular dental visits can help to ensure that the holidays aren’t hurting your oral health. Call us or schedule an appointment online.