We’re all prone to indulge over the holiday season. There’s candy and other sugary treats pretty much everywhere you look, so resisting temptation is practically impossible. I’m sure your dentist wouldn’t begrudge you these treats during the holidays (we certainly won’t!), but they will tell you that your oral hygiene is perhaps more important than ever during this time.

Maintain brushing and flossing

The holidays are a time for relaxing and forgetting about some of your responsibilities for a while. However, that doesn’t mean you can forget about brushing your teeth. Christmas is one of the few days where people might not judge you for having candy for breakfast (not that we’d recommend it), so your teeth could take a real beating from all that sugar.

When you’re constantly grazing throughout the day, as we’re prone to do on holidays that revolve around food, it’s easy to forget about brushing your teeth. Make sure you still brush and floss your teeth at least twice a day during the holidays to maintain good oral hygiene and prevent yourself from developing a cavity.

Avoid staining

Maybe you like to treat yourself to some hot chocolate when the weather gets cold outside, or a few glasses of red wine to celebrate the festivities. Drinks such as these can stain your teeth, making your pearly whites not so pearly anymore. As well as keeping up with brushing your teeth, using an anti-bacterial mouthwash can also help to prevent and reduce teeth staining.

Having your teeth professionally cleaned or opting for teeth whitening treatments are also effective ways of combating stained teeth.

Take care of dental work

You should take extra care of your teeth around the holidays if you’ve recently had any dental work. A tooth filling, dental crown, dental implants, and dentures are all susceptible to damage from tough foods such as chewy and crunchy candy. Try to avoid chewing hard foods such as these if you have dental work that needs extra protection. A broken tooth can be extremely painful, so make sure you think about what you eat and how you eat it.

We hope you all enjoy the holidays and take good care of your teeth in the meantime. If you would like any more advice on looking after your teeth during the holiday season or need treatment, then get in touch with us at Barabe Dental. We’re located in Advance, NC, and serve patients beyond this area in Clemmons, Lewisville, Mocksville, Winston Salem, and Bermuda Run.