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Christmas is associated with parties, nice dinners, late nights, and indulging in tasty foods and drinks. No Christmas celebration is complete without lots of delicious sweet treats. It is certainly a time for kids and parents alike to indulge their sweet tooth and enjoy extra desserts and sugary snacks.
While that is all part of the fun, it is important to look after your oral health around the festive season. Protecting oral health for children and adults alike is important. Since Christmas is just around the corner, I have some ways for you to look after your oral health over the holiday season.
Switch away from High Sugar Snacks
Certain sugar snacks are worse for your teeth than others. Sticky or hard sweets are ones to avoid, if possible.
Sticky sugary foods like caramels and toffees easily stick to teeth and gums and are sometimes very difficult to remove. The sugar will feed the bacteria in the mouth which further increases the risk of tooth decay. Even with regular brushing and flossing, it can be difficult to get rid of these sticky sweets, so try to limit your intake if possible.
Also, hard sweets are another to avoid. You risk chipping your teeth on the hard surface. And, if you choose to suck on these hard sweets, you significantly increase the time that sugar is present within the mouth, which further increases the chance of bacteria building up.
Maintain your Oral Health Routine
Even though there is more going on over Christmas with late nights and everything is off of routine, it is critical to maintain a rigorous oral health routine. That includes brushing twice a day and flossing. Brushing twice per day is vital in stopping a build-up of germs and plaque.
Flossing in between your teeth once a day can improve your oral health and leave you with fresher breath. If you check out this dentist in Oxnard CA, they'll recommend flossing before you sleep.
It is also advisable to have regular trips to your dentist for cleanings and to check the health of your teeth and gums. Even with doing the best cleaning job at home, a professional clean and exam makes all of the difference such as visiting a dentist London.
Chew Sugar-Free Gum After Meals
It isn't realistic to brush your teeth after every sugar-containing food that you enjoy, especially when you are out and about over the holidays. Rather, enjoyable habits like chewing sugar-free gum after eating sugary snacks could go a long way toward securing your mouth against plaque and bacteria.
Chewing sugar-free gum helps protect your teeth and gums in between meals when it may not be possible to brush with a toothbrush and toothpaste. Because your teeth are more at risk of acid attack after you have eaten.
The Oral Health Foundation says that by activating and increasing the flow of saliva, chewing sugarless gum helps reduce plaque acid, strengthen teeth, and reduce tooth decay. Chewing sugar-free gum even shows similar benefits to cavity prevention as brushing your teeth.
Moderation
Moderation is also really important when it comes to sweets. It's not only important when you enjoy sugary desserts, treats and drinks, but how much you have is also really important. You don't want to overload yourself or the children with too much at once or over the coming weeks.
The sweet festive desserts to indulge in this December all add up. Although they taste great, they’re usually high in sugar. You don’t have to completely compromise on what you eat and drink, however, as the main problem is not so much the amount of sugar, but the frequency of sweet and acidic snacking.
The harm comes from putting sugar into your mouth several more times a day than normal. Try to minimise the number of these occasions as snacking and drinking throughout the day creates the perfect climate for bacteria and plaque. Hygienists recommend that it is best to consume the treats after mealtimes.
So you can still have a super fun Christmas while also looking after your teeth and oral health. Wishing you a happy and festive Christmas and holiday season.
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