How to Keep Your Smile Bright During the Holidays

Christmas is a time for family gatherings, festive meals and treats that may not usually be part of your daily routine. Enjoying these foods in moderation is unlikely to undo a year of good dental care, but changes to how often you eat, drink and brush can affect your teeth and gums.

Boxes of chocolates left open throughout the day, sugary drinks between meals and late nights that lead to skipped brushing can all increase the risk of tooth decay. Fizzy drinks, fruit juices, wine and some cocktails may also expose the teeth to acid, which can gradually wear away enamel.

You do not need to avoid every festive treat. A few practical choices can help you enjoy Christmas while continuing to look after your oral health.

Enjoy Sugary Treats With Meals

When bacteria in dental plaque come into contact with sugar, they produce acids that attack the tooth surface. Your saliva gradually helps the mouth recover, but eating sugary foods repeatedly gives the teeth less time between these attacks.

This means that the frequency of sugar consumption matters, not just the total amount.

Rather than grazing on sweets, biscuits and chocolates throughout the day, try to enjoy them with or shortly after a main meal. This limits the number of separate occasions on which your teeth are exposed to sugar.

If you are hosting guests, consider putting treats away between meals instead of leaving open bowls within easy reach all day.

Choose Less Sugary Snacks Between Meals

Festive snacks do not always need to involve chocolate, cake or sweets. Alternatives could include:

• Cheese
• Plain yoghurt
• Unsalted nuts
• Vegetable sticks
• Whole fresh fruit

Whole fruit can form part of a balanced diet, but fruit juice, smoothies and dried fruit expose the teeth to free sugars more readily. It is sensible to keep these to mealtimes rather than consuming them frequently between meals.

These choices do not replace brushing, but they can reduce how often your teeth come into contact with added or free sugars.

Be Careful With Sticky and Hard Sweets

Toffees, caramels and other sticky sweets can remain around the teeth for longer than foods that are cleared from the mouth more easily. They may also pull at loose fillings, crowns or other dental restorations.

Hard sweets present a different risk. Biting down on boiled sweets, ice cubes or hard nuts can chip a tooth or damage existing dental work, particularly if the tooth is already weakened.

Allow hard sweets to dissolve rather than biting them, and avoid using your teeth to crack nutshells, open bottles or tear packaging.

Remember That Sugar-Free Drinks Can Still Be Acidic

Regular fizzy drinks can contribute to tooth decay because they contain sugar. However, diet and sugar-free versions are not automatically harmless to teeth.

Many carbonated drinks are acidic, regardless of whether they contain sugar. Frequent exposure to acid can soften the enamel and contribute to dental erosion, which may eventually cause sensitivity, thinning or changes to the shape of the teeth.

Fruit juice, cider, wine, sparkling wine and some cocktails can also be acidic. Slowly sipping these drinks throughout an afternoon or evening increases the length of time your teeth are exposed.

Still water is the safest choice for regular drinking. Having water alongside festive drinks can also help rinse the mouth and prevent it from feeling dry.

Further everyday advice is available through Park Street Dental Practice’s preventative dentistry services.

Avoid Brushing Immediately After Acidic Food or Drink

Brushing twice a day remains essential, but brushing immediately after consuming something acidic may contribute to wear while the enamel surface is temporarily softened.

After an acidic drink, rinse your mouth with water and give your saliva time to neutralise the acidity before brushing. Do not try to compensate by scrubbing harder, as excessive pressure can also contribute to tooth and gum problems.

If acidic drinks regularly form part of your diet, mention this at your next dental appointment. Your dental team can look for signs of erosion and provide advice suited to your teeth.

Do Not Skip Brushing Before Bed

Late nights and changes to your routine can make it tempting to go straight to bed without brushing. However, cleaning your teeth before sleep is particularly important.

Brush twice a day for around two minutes with fluoride toothpaste, including last thing at night and on one other occasion. Make sure you clean the outer, inner and biting surfaces of every tooth.

After brushing, spit out the excess toothpaste rather than rinsing immediately with water. This allows fluoride to remain in contact with the teeth for longer.

If you are staying with relatives or travelling over Christmas, pack:

• Your toothbrush or electric brush head
• Fluoride toothpaste
• Floss or interdental brushes
• Any products recommended by your dentist or hygienist

Keeping these items together in a small travel bag makes it easier to maintain your routine while away from home.

Continue Cleaning Between Your Teeth

A toothbrush cannot always reach the narrow spaces between teeth. Food and plaque can collect in these areas, particularly after eating sticky festive foods.

Continue using floss or interdental brushes if they form part of your normal routine. Your dentist or hygienist can show you which method and size of interdental brush are suitable for your mouth.

Do not use sharp objects, cocktail sticks or pieces of packaging to remove trapped food. These can injure the gums or damage the teeth.

Use Sugar-Free Gum When Brushing Is Not Possible

Chewing sugar-free gum after a meal can stimulate saliva production. Saliva helps clear food particles and neutralise acids in the mouth.

Sugar-free gum can be useful when you are away from home and cannot brush, but it is not a replacement for twice-daily brushing or interdental cleaning.

Avoid chewing gum if it causes jaw discomfort or if a dental professional has advised against it because of recent treatment, dentures or another oral-health concern.

Look After Children’s Teeth During Christmas

Children can be exposed to sugary food more frequently during Christmas, particularly when sweets are given as presents or left available throughout the day.

Rather than allowing unrestricted grazing, offer treats at set times and keep them close to meals. Water or plain milk are more suitable everyday drinks than juice, squash or fizzy drinks.

Children should continue brushing twice a day with an age-appropriate amount of fluoride toothpaste. Younger children will usually need help or supervision to make sure every tooth is cleaned.

Do Not Ignore Toothache or Dental Damage

Dental problems do not always wait until normal routines resume in January. Contact a dental practice if you develop:

• Persistent or severe toothache
• Swelling of the face, mouth or gums
• A broken or knocked-out tooth
• A lost filling or crown accompanied by pain
• Bleeding that does not stop
• Signs of infection, such as swelling with a high temperature

A chipped tooth or lost filling may not always be painful, but it should still be assessed. Avoid chewing on the affected side and do not attempt to repair the tooth using household glue or an unsuitable adhesive.

Information about examinations and restorative care can be found on the practice’s general dentistry page.

Get Your Routine Back on Track After Christmas

A few festive treats do not mean that you have failed to look after your teeth. The most useful approach is to return to your normal routine rather than attempting harsh cleaning, restrictive diets or unnecessary whitening products.

Continue brushing twice daily, clean between your teeth and reduce how frequently you consume sugary or acidic food and drink.

If you notice sensitivity, bleeding gums, toothache or damage to a filling or tooth, arrange professional advice. To ask about an appointment at Park Street Dental Practice in Selby, visit the contact page.