Unexpected risks to your oral health this Christmas

It’s no secret that Christmas can be a tricky time for your oral health. The biggest culprits are the sweets and chocolate we all indulge in throughout the season – especially ones like candy canes! Aside from the obvious suspects, though, there are a couple of other bad habits we all quietly engage in throughout Christmas that can cause our teeth serious damage. In our expert opinion, here are some of the most underestimated!

Avoid using your teeth to pull off that ribbon

Ever since childhood, many of us still find that when we have trouble opening something – presents especially – the first resort may be our teeth. However, tugging at something with your teeth unnecessarily can put them under needless strain, especially if they’re more delicate than you give them credit for! Plastic containers or boxes often end up being subjected to this treatment when there are no scissors handy – and they can be particularly resilient! Similarly…

Don’t open bottles with your teeth!

Opening beer bottles and similar with your teeth may be a time-honoured party trick, but it can have serious repercussions on your dental health. You probably don’t need us to tell you that it can put pressure on your teeth and – in the worst case scenarios – can lead to them cracking. Consulting an emergency dentist can really put a downer on your Christmas! Even if you’re not in the habit of impressing your guests with such a trick, you might be in the habit of pulling the cork off wine bottles and similar with your teeth. And speaking of which…

Go easy on the Christmas drinks

We’ve done an entire post before on the effects of Christmas drinks on your teeth. To sum it up, they can be more potent than you realise! Drinks like wine and Prosecco are both sweet and highly acidic, allowing them to easily eat away at the enamel of your teeth. It’s not necessarily a cause for panic – it just means that it’s wise to consume them in moderation, just as you would with any other sweet solid foods like candies or cakes.

Keep grazing to a minimum

Since there’s so much food often on hand at Christmas, it can be dangerously easy to keep snacking over and over again throughout the day. But – you guessed it – this isn’t ideal for your teeth. Even if you’re being careful, on average you’re still likely to consume far more sweet stuff than usual, which means you need to give your teeth time to recover between meals. The frequency that you’re eating sugar matters just as much – if not more – than the actual amount. This is part of why so many dental professionals, including our experts here at AP Smilecare, advise eating sugary snacks at mealtimes. Unless you’re eating six meals a day, by default it tends to limit the frequency at which you consume sugar, giving your teeth more time to recover.

And don’t forget: pop a cube of cheese every now and again! Lots of people don’t know this, but cheese actually neutralises the acids in your mouth, especially in drinks like wine and Prosecco. So if you feel like a spot of indulgence, it might be worth having a piece of cheddar handy!

Here at AP Smilecare, we’re committed to keeping that smile of yours looking and feeling fantastic, with our range of core treatments like teeth whitening and even a full smile makeover! Why not pop into our dentists in Blackburn, and see what we can do for you?