The festive season is here. It is time to celebrate and enjoy seeing family and friends. There is a big focus on food at this time of year. Many festive foods and drinks can damage our teeth. Other habits at this time can also damage our teeth. It is important to keep tooth-friendly habits over Christmas and the holidays to protect your teeth from long-term damage.
Here are some tooth-friendly tips to get you through the holiday season.
1. Avoid mindless eating
Sugary treats are bad for our teeth. They are especially bad when we have them too often or have too much.
Mindless eating is the opposite of mindful eating. It is when we eat without even thinking twice about it. We eat because food is present, not because we are hungry. Before reaching for another sweet treat, you should ask yourself ‘am I really hungry?’ If you are not hungry, try to eat a more tooth-friendly treat instead, such as some popcorn, or save yourself for a main meal.
The Australian Dental Association’s Tooth-friendly treats cookbook includes 20 dentist-recommended sweet treat recipes. These treats are great options for the holiday season to enjoy with family and friends. Buy the hardcopy or e-book here.
2. Can the candy cane
Hard lollies are the worst. They are made of 100% sugar and can cause teeth and fillings to break. Hard lollies also take longer to dissolve in the mouth. This means that the sugar from the lollies sits on the surface of the teeth for longer and this can increase your risk of developing tooth decay.
This includes candy canes. Think about swapping candy canes for a tooth-friendly treat or a small, non-edible treat instead.
3. Only use your teeth for smiling, talking and eating
Healthy teeth let us eat, speak and smile comfortably. It is important to not use your teeth for other purposes that may increase your risk of breaking them. For example, opening bottles or breaking sticky tape or ribbon when wrapping presents with your teeth may cause them damage. Protect your teeth and stick to bottle openers and scissors.
Are you due for a dental check-up? If you have private health insurance, many companies will renew the extra’s benefits in the new year. Take the opportunity to use your dental extras and book in for a check-up.
If you need a dentist, use the ADA’s Find-A-Dentist search engine to find an ADA member dentist near you.
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