The Ultimate Christmas Smile Survival Guide From Abbey Road Dental!
Keep your smile healthy over Christmas and avoid an emergency visit to the dentist
Christmas is a wonderful time of year when all of us enjoy kicking back and enjoying parties and memory making with family and friends.
Despite Christmas being the time of year we all smile plenty, it is actually a really high risk time of year for oral health too.
Alcohol, partying, stress, naughty foods galore and other risk factors all contribute to an increase in dental issues over the festive period.
So to help you maintain your beautiful smile over the holidays, here is your ultimate Christmas smile survival guide from Abbey Road Dental:
Don’t Take Any Unnecessary Risks
It is so important that you do not crack nuts or open bottles with your teeth. If reading that this is the kind of thing that happens over Christmas shocked you, you might be surprised to know lots of injuries to the teeth and gums occur during the holidays due to these kinds of risks. Instead of using your teeth, it’s a good idea to use the correct tools for the job!
Take It Easy On The Naughty Foods Or Eat Them During Mealtimes
If you can take it easy on the pastries, chocolates, cakes and other Christmas treats, your oral health will benefit. There are so many things that are consumed over Christmas that can cause issues with the teeth. If we can’t persuade you to relax on the indulgence, could you consider only eating the naughtiest foods during mealtimes? One of the biggest issues with consuming naughty foods at Christmas is how the teeth are constantly exposed to sugars and acids because we all graze. Eating indulgent foods over mealtimes and especially following those episodes with water to rinse and perhaps sugar-free gum, limits that window of damage and helps your teeth and gums.
Try To Maintain Your Oral Health Routine
Brushing your teeth twice a day for two minutes each time is really important. During the holidays we are so busy, especially with late night parties, it is easy to forget to brush, or perhaps brush less effectively than we usually would. If you can maintain your oral health routine throughout the Christmas holidays, your oral health will definitely benefit. Plaque can be removed and the ‘bad’ bacteria will have less chance to damage your teeth. Even better, if you can floss once a day too, your smile will be even healthier come New Year.
Do you feel your oral health regime is ineffective? Our local St John’s Wood hygienist can provide you with lots of tips on cleaning your teeth effectively and improving your daily oral hygiene regime too. Why not book in for a New Year freshen up?
Don’t Skip Dental Visits
At Christmas we can all become the very busiest bees, flitting from shop to shop getting gifts, planning party outfits, trying to get workloads done so we can relax over Christmas, catching up with relatives and friends – there are so many uses of our time. This can cause us to skip a dental checkup or visit to the hygienist, which is bad news for your oral health. The main benefit of a dental checkup is that any issues that are present are caught early. By avoiding your checkup you are putting yourself at risk of an advanced issue when you do get around to getting to your local dentist here in NW8.
Everything is probably fine, but if it isn’t, the sooner it is diagnosed and treated, the cheaper it will be, and the less pain and damage it is likely to cause. If you are really struggling for time, rescheduling is definitely better than cancelling your appointment altogether, because at least then you have a plan to help keep your oral health on track.
Don’t Put Off An Emergency
Christmas is such an intense time, we have seen patients with really difficult dental symptoms who have put off an emergency visit because it is Christmas. As humans we don’t want to feel we are missing out, and so we may put up with pain because we believe it can wait until after the holidays. If you have pain that is causing swelling, fever, bleeding, a nasty taste in the mouth or any other strong symptoms, please get to your nearest dentist. If Abbey Road Dental is not open, please call 111 to get advice on accessing your nearest emergency dental unit. If there is excessive swelling or pain, and especially if you suspect a burst abscess, you must seek emergency help as abscesses can cause sepsis which is life threatening.
Do Opt For Healthy Foods & Drink
Rather than thinking of Christmas in terms of what you ‘shouldn’t’ have, why not think of it in terms of great choices you can make. On the buffet items such as the following are a great idea for your oral health:
- Cheese
- Salads
- Crudites and dip
- Stews
- Chillies
- Fruit
- Roasted veggies
Opting for water in between alcoholic drinks and choosing to drink with your food are both really active and helpful ways to help your smile stay healthy over Christmas.
Christmas is a beautiful time of the year where many of us are busy making memories and enjoying time dedicated to friends and family. However, it is a time of risk for your oral health and the more effort you can make to keep your teeth and gums in great condition, the better you will feel going into the New Year.
Do you need to make an appointment to see a dentist or hygienist? Please call our friendly team on 02076241603 for information on our Christmas hours. We will make you a booking at a time convenient to you and if we think you need emergency care we cannot provide, we can point you in the right direction.
We’re here to help all of our patients go into 2020 with the best possible oral health, ready for happy smiles every day in the new year ahead!