The holiday season is fast approaching and while you may be excited for the many gatherings and delicious foods to come, it's important to consider the state of your teeth and how to maintain their whiteness throughout the festivities. This is especially true for those with weak or otherwise already-stained enamel, and those with braces or retainers. Let's take a look at three ways to keep your teeth healthy and white over the holiday season.
1. Stick to Your Daily Oral Care Routine
The excitement of the festivities, as well as an extensive travel schedule, can make it difficult to keep up with many of your regular daily routines. However, one routine must not be overlooked and that's the one involving your daily oral care.
It's critical that you maintain your regular brushing, flossing, and mouth rinsing routine to keep your teeth in their current state. In fact, you'll also likely have to add a few extra steps to your routine over the season as a way to prevent erosion or staining in the midst of indulgence.
2. Skip the Sweets
Cookies, caramels, and candy canes – oh my! There's certainly no lack of sugary sweet treats over the holiday season and this can easily lead to a situation that puts your oral health in danger. That's why it's best to skip the sweets altogether and instead aim for more crunchy vegetables and cheeses.
If you must indulge, be sure to rinse with water but avoid brushing your teeth for at least half an hour. The act of brushing while sugar remains on the teeth can lead to erosion of the enamel, but rinsing will help to remove the excess sugars until such a time as brushing is 'safe'.
3. Choose Light-Colored Beverages
While water should always be your main source of hydration, it's very likely that you'll imbibe from time to time throughout the season. Wine, champagne, and other types of alcohol are alright in moderation, and so too is coffee, soda, and tea, but it's best to choose the light-colored options when given the choice.
Dark wine, coffee, tea, and juices are known to stain the teeth over a long period of time. The sugars prevalent in so many sodas and juices aren't good for the enamel either, and that's not even to mention the carbonation in champagne and soda. This is why it's best to consume in moderation and choose the lightest colored options available.
To further reduce the chance of enamel erosion and staining, you may also consider using a straw or taking sips of water in between sips of your drink of choice.
The above steps are a great start, but there's no shame in getting some professional help. This means scheduling your pre- and post-season dental check-ups and teeth whitening before the season becomes too busy and working with your dentist to create a plan to keep your teeth healthy and pearly white now and in the future.
Share12 November 2018
Do you have "bad teeth"? I do. Ever since I was a kid, every checkup turns up a number of issues ranging from cavities to dental fractures. It has always been frustrating to keep my smile in decent shape, which is one of the reasons I started focusing on understanding different dental problems. I wanted to know what I was getting into when I visited the doctor, so I began focusing on learning as much as I could. I wanted to create this blog all about dentistry so that other people could find out what to expect when they head to the dentist. Check it out!
