Thanksgiving Dental Tips to be Thankful For

17 Nov Thanksgiving Dental Tips to be Thankful For

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are changing colors, and Thanksgiving is almost here! Who doesn’t love the excuse to gorge themselves on delicious and tantalizing food, all while enjoying the company of family and friends. Thanksgiving surely gives many reasons to be thankful, but did you know that Thanksgiving is one of the worst days for your teeth?

This Thanksgiving, eat with your teeth in mind. To help you out, check out our Thanksgiving dental tips to help ensure a teeth-friendly holiday!

• Drink plenty of water in between and during meals

When you are continually eating, your saliva never gets the chance to wash away harmful bacteria from the teeth that is caused by the stagnant food. This gives the food particles the chance to sit and breed, and this can erode your enamel. So, to fight against this, make sure you drink plenty of water during and in between meals to wash the food particles away from your teeth.

• Ditch the soda

They didn’t drink soda when the Thanksgiving tradition started and neither should you! Soda is rather unkind to your teeth, and increases the risk for tooth decay. You are going to get enough sugar more than likely during the day between dinner and dessert, so you should lessen the blow by drinking water, tea or milk instead.

• Choose your poison carefully

There are plenty of tasty ways you can enjoy Thanksgiving and all its bounty, and still eat well. So go ahead and indulge, but try to keep your teeth and waistline in mind while doing so. Find some balance; meaning for every sugary item you eat, you have to eat one healthy item. If you are the host, be sure to serve many tooth-friendly foods that are good for you, your teeth, and your waistline!

• Be cautious with your teeth (especially if you wear braces!)

On Thanksgiving (and everyday really), be kind to your teeth, especially if you wear braces. This means no opening bottles or cracking open nuts with your teeth! In addition, try to stay away from anything else sticky and hard, such as caramel popcorn, which has the ability to crack teeth and/or damage the wires and brackets of your braces. In addition, steer clear of teeth-staining food…unless of course you keep a toothbrush handy!

• Brush and floss

It wouldn’t be a bad idea to bring along a toothbrush and dental floss. This will give you the ability to brush after every meal, or after you eat anything especially sweet or sticky. With the amount of food and sweets typically eaten, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to brush at least three times on Thanksgiving to keep those pearly whites clean and healthy.

Having a healthy, beautiful smile is something to be thankful for. Contact us at DP5th to learn more or to schedule an appointment.