Let’s be honest, we all get lax around Christmas time. We all eat and drink more of the things we shouldn’t and it can be hard to maintain the rigidity of our dental health and hygiene routine without the structure of the working week to keep us in tact. But making sure you maintain healthy teeth and gums over Christmas time is so important, as is booking yourself in for a hygienist appointment after being a little less healthy than usual.
The Christmas food and drink that’s no friend to your teeth
There are some foods that your teeth aren’t a fan of, especially in large quantities. For many of us, one of the main elements of a Christmas diet is champagne and prosecco. It’s practically synonymous with Christmas! Unfortunately, prosecco has a very high sugar content and can cause what is known as ‘prosecco teeth’ where the teeth start to come away from the gum as a result of carbonation and the sheer acidity of the drink. Try substituting prosecco and champagne for drinks like gin and vodka (to be enjoyed with mixers of course!) which have a far lower sugar content and are less of threat to your teeth.
Christmas is also a time for Roses and Quality Street, both of which contain toffee and caramel-based sweets. Sticky confectionary-based products easily erode tooth enamel and are notoriously difficult to remove from in between your teeth, causing bacteria to settle, multiply and increase your chances of plaque. Try to keep the water close by so it can wash away bacteria and reduce food particles lingering in your mouth.
Post-Christmas hygienist appointment – start your New Year as you mean to go on
Everyone should visit the hygienist at least once each year and for some this needs to be twice, though it does depend on the health of your gums. Booking yourself in for a hygienist appointment after Christmas is a great way to start the year and set you on a path to good dental hygiene. Your hygienist here at Corner House will perform a routine scale and polish to remove tenacious staining that can cause the onset of gum disease. Regular scale and polish treatments are vital in protecting your teeth from receding away from the gums and eventually falling out. Smokers and those who excessive consume alcohol and sugary food and drink are considered “high risk” when it comes to gum disease and should never neglect to attend hygienist appointments. Unfortunately here in the UK, we still have a way to go in signalling the importance of regular hygienist appointments to the general public
If you would like to book your post-Christmas hygienist appointment with us here at Corner House, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We look forward to seeing you in 2020!