Top Tips To Help You Keep Your Teeth In Great Shape This Christmas
Navigate the oral health onslaught this holiday season.
There is going to be a lot of tasty food, alcohol and fizzy drinks this Christmas. One of the main reasons a lot of us love Christmas is because there are so many delicious treats to indulge in.
If there weren’t so many gorgeous food and drink products for us to enjoy, we probably wouldn’t put on the average 3 pounds each and every Brit gains over the Christmas period (eek!).
Unfortunately, a lot of the indulgent food consumed: wine, acidic fruits and sweets, sugary biscuits and starchy snacks, can be really awful for the teeth, so it is important to care for the teeth over the Christmas period. Here are the foods good for your teeth, bad for your teeth, and awful for your teeth so you can take care to indulge in a way that keeps your teeth healthy over Christmas:
Good
Cheese – Cheese is a popular Christmas food, and it isn’t quite Christmas day without a cheese board in front of the festive TV programmes at night. As you nibble on a chunk or five of mature cheddar, you will be happy to know that cheese brings your teeth many benefits, including calcium and the ability to help neutralise your oral PH.
Nuts – Nuts are great for the teeth, particularly peanuts and walnuts which contain a plethora of beneficial vitamins. Just take care to opt for unsalted versions, and to crack whole nuts properly as chomping down on a bit of hard nut shell will not be good for the teeth!
Carrots – Not just great for Rudolph, carrots are full of vitamin A which is great for helping keep tooth enamel strong.
Crunchy Veg – Carrots, celery and peppers make great dipping sticks on a buffet, and they also help your teeth by naturally cleaning them and stimulating blood flow.
Bad
Wine – wine stains the teeth over time and it can be extremely acidic which is not good for tooth enamel. A glass with your main meal is better than little sips here and there throughout the day, as that only prolongs the acid attack on the teeth.
Crackers – Although the cheese is good for your teeth, the crackers aren’t, the white crackers anyway. These types of starches convert to sugar almost immediately when we consume them, which is bad for the teeth. They also tend to find their way into gaps in the gums and teeth, remaining there causing damage to the teeth until tooth brushing time.
Awful
All The Sugary Things – The sugary sweeties, the giant tubs of sugary chocolate, the sugary biscuits, cakes and desserts are all wonderful for the taste, but terrible for the teeth. Where possible, consume at mealtimes as not to prolong tooth exposure to sugar.
Fizzy Drinks – Even sugar free fizzy drinks contain a lot of acid, so where possible all fizzy drinks should be avoided or at least moderated. A good way to enjoy the fizz without the damage is to opt for fizzy spring water with a drop of sugar free cordial or fruit juice which will contain a lot less sugar than ‘full fat’ fizzy drinks options.
Book Your Christmas Checkup With Abbey Road Dental, NW8
Are you due a dental checkup this side of Christmas? If you are, please give Abbey Road Dental a call on 02076241603 and we will be more than happy to help you. As well as general dentistry, we also provide many modern cosmetic dentistry treatments like teeth whitening. If you’re interested in getting an ‘A list’ smile for Christmas or New Year, please give us a call on the same number and we can provide you with more details. Here at our friendly clinic in St John’s Wood, we’re excited to keep you smiling through the seasons.
