With the holidays approaching at a rapid pace, it means more people are putting on their best clothes, and the whitest smile for the incoming string of parties. However, if your festive gatherings tend to involve plenty of cocktails and treats, you may be in need of a few tips to maintain healthy teeth this Greenville holiday season while you indulge in your favorite treats.
Below are several tips from dedicated dental care providers in Greenville, SC, on how to enjoy your favorite seasonal treats without destroying your pearly white teeth and to ensure your teeth remain healthy long after the holidays.
Smart Practices for Health Teeth During the Holidays in Greenville
Use a Straw
When you consume drinks that are not good for your health, using a straw can reduce the damage that the drinks do to the enamel on your teeth. Soda is packed full of sugar and acid, and with long-term consumption, it can turn healthy teeth into rotten. Coffee, tea, and red wine can discolor and stain teeth, but you can lessen the impact by sipping through a straw.
Use Petroleum Jelly
If you are embarrassed to use a straw, rub a thin layer of petroleum jelly on your teeth. The jelly acts as a barrier between drinks and your white smile and works to prevent the staining power of the liquids. It also works as a barrier from lipstick stains.
Floss Daily
Our dental service team in Greenville advises that you take extra effort to clean your teeth during the festive season. Every night, before going to bed, weave floss between each tooth to remove any hidden food particles from popcorn kernels and sugary sweets to stringy meat you may have had during the day or at dinner. What is more, if you have not been flossing regularly, this could help you get into a brand-new habit for healthy teeth in the new year.
Reach for the Vegetables
At holiday gatherings, pass by the trays of Christmas brownies and cookies and, instead, fill your plate with vegetables. Carrots and broccoli, for instance, are excellent treats to maintain healthy teeth since they are loaded with enamel-strengthening vitamin A.
Pass on Candy and Chewy Foods
This may be a difficult task to achieve during the holidays, and you do not have to cut out all hard candies and chewy foods, but it is still better to know the risks involved, as you do not want to have to seek our emergency dental services in Greenville, South Carolina for a broken tooth or cracked crown during the holidays.
Hard candies such as butterscotch candies or candy canes are a risk for teeth if you attempt to chew them. Doing so may lead to chipped or cracked teeth – both painful and expensive to fix and even more so if you are away from your regular dental service provider in Greenville, S.C.
While not as threatening as hard candies, significantly chewy or sticky candies can also cause damage to otherwise healthy teeth. Between the sugar and the stickiness, the candies can cling to teeth, feeding the bacteria that usually cause tooth decay. Particularly sticky candies, such as caramels, may pull out fillings.
The Best Foods to Choose for Healthy Teeth
While eating the wrong food can do damage to healthy teeth, eating the right ones can keep your mouth healthy and ensure you avoid looking for emergency dental services in Greenville during the party season.
Green tea: Green tea is a good alternative to black tea, coffee, and even alcohol. Consumed before or after meals, the drink has been linked to an array of oral health benefits, including a lower risk of tooth loss and healthier gums. The tea also contains anti-inflammatory and antibacterial properties which aid in the prevention of dental plaque.
Strawberries: If your teeth are stained from too much wine and other staining foods from festive feasts, you can try to use a natural method to whiten your otherwise healthy teeth by using strawberries. Mix the strawberries with baking soda and apply with a soft toothbrush. Leave the past on for a few minutes, then brush it off.
Water: Water is important to help keep the mouth moist and for rinsing away bacteria, acid, and sugar from your gums, teeth, and tongue.
Do You Need Dental Services in Greenville, South Carolina?
While staying away from unfriendly foods and drinks can go a long way to keeping your healthy teeth intact, you may require a little more help. After the holidays, it is a good idea to seek dental services in Greenville, South Carolina, for thorough teeth cleaning and to have any plaque removed from your teeth.
Magnolia Dental is based in Greenville, South Carolina. We offer a range of treatments to keep your teeth healthy and white. Book your post-holiday appointment today.