Christmas Dental Hygiene Tips

The holidays are around the corner. If you aren’t already, it shouldn’t be long before you’re waking up to Christmas music and busying about your day with an extra delectable coffee in hand.

The holidays are one of the most spectacular times of the year. Whether or not we’re prepared to faced them, they halt us in our current direction. They demand our attention. We have to stop what we’re doing and admire the snow falling over pine. We find the time to get to the tree lot for our home tree. We let the kids stay up late to watch the very best of the Christmas classics. In the coldest season of the year, the holidays prove us otherwise and make certain we remember it as the warmest.

Then there’s the magic of the mythical. No matter which stories are prominent in your household, there is an undeniable glow to the richness of holiday tales.

Amidst all of this and woven into every special moments are the savories and spices of the Christmas season. Holiday food is abundant, and in the spirit of sharing, we seem to always have more than our families can possibly stomach. School and work are out and shuffling from one party to another ends up facilitating no fabulous dental care.

Let’s keep our smiles bright and merry this holiday season by following a few Christmas dental guidelines:

• Say yes to cranberries. Cranberries are scattered about during the holidays, and that is excellent news. Cranberries have shown to prevent gum disease and tooth decay, on top of many other known health benefits. If you are serving a dish, throw some cran in there.
• Be wary of dried fruit, like the embellishments you see in mince pies, Christmas cake, and Christmas pudding. Although it’s delicious, that dried fruit is sugar-coated and a recipe for misery on your teeth. If you need to have a bite, sneak away and go brush that sugar off afterward.
• Keep the routine fun. The last thing your kids are thinking about doing on Christmas morning is running to the bathroom to brush their teeth. But it’s so important to keep the oral routine going throughout the sugar-coated holiday window. Play some Christmas music in the bathroom, encourage them to be on last, best behavior before presents.
• Say yes to cheese. You can budge on your diet if it is helpful to your teeth, right? Cheese has a natural acid that helps balance the pH level in the mouth, which can prevent tooth decay.
• Your teeth are not tools. Repeat that now: my teeth are not tools. Don’t use your teeth to ply hard-to-budge caps off their bottles.
• Everything in moderation. Boring, boring, boring, but a recipe for remaining thankful for your healthy smile moving forward. Mentally check in with how many glasses of wine, fizz and treats you’ve had. Switch from white to red; opt for water; say no sometimes to sweet treats. You can do it!

These are just a few of our recommended dental hygiene tips. Go with your gut in most situations. If you feel like you’ve got a layer of sugar-grit on your teeth, brush those puppies. Maybe skip the next rounds of cookies. Remember, you’ve only got one smile for life, do your best to take care of it in those most tempting of seasons. Come into Coral Gables Dentistry after the holidays for your routine check-up or to check out any of our services to gear up for the best you possible in the new year.