Every year, during the holidays, our kitchens, schools, and offices are flooded with candies, cookies, and sugary drinks. When you think about it, the fun and joyful holiday season can seem downright scary when it comes to keeping your smile healthy. To help, our Novato dentists have put together this short article all about protecting your smile during the holidays…
Know The Problem Ingredients
During the holiday season, it can seem impossible to avoid the onslaught of sugary treats, like cookies, candies, and cakes, with which we are faced. While you may not be able to cut sugar from your diet completely, our Novato dental team encourages you to pay attention to the treats you consume. When you flood your mouth with sugar, harmful oral bacteria are able to use it as fuel. And, when you eat or drink something acidic, your dental enamel is temporarily softened and more porous. A change in diet during the holidays doesn’t just affect your waistline!
Rinse Your Mouth Regularly
As we are consuming an increased amount of sweet or acidic goodies during this time of year, we also need to be taking special care to refresh our smiles. Rinsing your mouth with water is a simple thing that you can do to freshen your breath, and to make it more difficult for harmful oral bacteria to feed on sugary or acidic food particles.
Indulge Strategically
Not all snacking is created equal. It is actually better for your smile if you set aside a specific time of day during which you can eat and drink sugary treats. By consuming these things in time-limited sittings, you minimize the number of hours that oral bacteria are active and feeding on sugars in your mouth. What we don’t want to do is to snack and sip continuously throughout the day—this allows bacteria to stay active all day long.
If you need any help developing an oral hygiene plan that works for you, our Novato dentists are here to help you. Give our office a call, or use the Contact Us page on our site to get started!