The Best Dental Tips for a Happy Holiday Season

The holiday season is officially upon us, and it brings with it tons of shopping, cooking, eating, and making merry with family and friends. In all the hullaballoo, it can be all too easy to let our usual oral healthcare habits slide, especially with so many delicious foods surrounding us. Before things get too hectic, though, your Kansas City family dentist wants to share some of our best dental tips to help you have a happy and healthy holiday season. Let’s get started.

Stick to your routine. As we mentioned, with everything that’s going on during the holidays, it can be easy to forget to brush or floss. However, it is especially important during the holidays that you stick to your usual oral care routine. This goes double if you’re partaking of sugary holiday snacks.

Snack on fruit and cheese. Speaking of snacks, we recommend the fruit and cheese plate! It’s delicious, it’s sweet, it’s savory, and it’s satisfying. The calcium is great for your tooth health, as well! Sure, you can enjoy a cup of eggnog or your grandma’s divinity, but for most of your snacking, aim for healthier options.

Choose white wine. For many of us, few things go better with a holiday meal than a glass of wine. However, red wines can do a number on your teeth. If you’re concerned about tooth staining, go for whites. If you want to look your very best in those holiday photos, it’s not too late to ask your Kansas City family dentist about tooth whitening treatments!

Everything else in moderation. We all have our holiday food traditions, whether that’s holiday-themed lattes at a favorite coffee shop, advent calendar chocolates, fruit cakes, eggnog, or home-baked cookies. Feel free to indulge in whatever makes your holiday special. The holidays only come around once a year, after all! Just indulge in moderation and be sure to brush well afterward! That is, with one exception…

Avoid the sticky sweets. A few holiday traditions are particularly bad for your teeth. Candy canes, caramels, toffee, peanut brittle, and any hard and sticky sweets like these stick to your teeth and damage the enamel over time, promoting the formation of cavities and generally causing all sorts of problems. Avoid them if you can.

Stay hydrated. This is good advice any time of year. No matter what else you eat or drink this holiday season, be sure to also drink plenty of water. Staying hydrated has many great benefits for your overall health and for the health of your teeth and gums, from helping you to look and feel great to promoting saliva, which is your mouth’s first line of defense. Staying hydrated is super important!

No matter what you celebrate, the holiday season can be a truly wonderful time of the year. It’s even more wonderful if you can enjoy it without negatively impacting your oral health. Of course, despite your best intentions, there are going to be times when you slip up, but if you keep these oral care tips in mind and follow them more often than you don’t, you’ll stay happy and healthy this holiday season—and the other 51 weeks of the year!

Of course, it’s also important to see your Kansas City family dentist, whether you’re stopping in for a checkup or want to learn more about tooth whitening options so your smile can look its brightest in those holiday photos. Just call (816) 763-8400 or click here to schedule an appointment today!