How to Keep Your Teeth Healthy During the Holidays

How to Keep Your Teeth Healthy During the Holidays

Who doesn’t love all the sweet treats, snacks, and festive drinks that accompany the holiday season? While all of these treats taste great and are a big part of the festivities, they can wreak havoc on your teeth, if you’re not careful.

To make sure you continue smiling brightly well after we’ve finished saying our merries and happiest, take note of the following tips to keep your teeth healthy during the holidays.

6 Tips to Keep Your Teeth Healthy During the Holidays

1. Keep Your Oral Hygiene Routine
Late nights, busy schedules, and parties galore can throw you off your normal schedule and routine. Despite these disruptions to the norm, don’t let your regular oral hygiene routine slide. Continue brushing and flossing at least twice a day throughout the holiday season.

2. Rinse With Water
After enjoying sugary, starchy, or acidic treats, rinsing your mouth out with water will help remove some of the acid and sugar from the surfaces of your teeth. Be sure to stay well-hydrated, too, to promote good saliva production that’s also great for combating tooth decay.

3. Avoid Hard Candies
Sugary treats that take a long time to consume like hard candies and candy canes should be avoided or enjoyed as quickly as possible. The longer you have a sugary sweet in your mouth, the longer the bacteria are feasting and the more acid your tooth enamel is exposed to.

4. Enjoy the Cheese Plate
Cheese is alkaline which neutralizes the acid that causes tooth decay. So feel free to snack away.

5. Careful With the Drinks
Alcoholic drinks like wine and common mixers like soda are full of acid and sugar, both of which are responsible for tooth decay.

6. Beware of Carbs
Starchy carbohydrates aren’t just bad for your waistline, they also stick to the teeth, providing a sugary feast for tooth-decay-causing bacteria.