10 Dec Stay Cavity-Free This Holiday… Here’s How
When it comes to diet, we need to remember to consume foods, especially fun, sugary foods, in moderation. In fact, in moderation, most all food is probably fine—except sticky, sugary candy like taffy which is always bad for our teeth. And there are good times and bad times to consume sugar. When sugar is consumed either during or shortly after a meal, the mouth is already producing adequate saliva, and saliva can then wash away most of the sugar from the teeth—it can also counter-balance the tooth-damaging acids caused by bacteria.
Avoid Sticky Foods
Sticky foods such as taffy are terrible for teeth. The problem with a sticky food is that it doesn’t easily wash off teeth. Even dried fruit such as applies and cranberries need to be washed from the surface of teeth immediately following a meal.
Overly Sugary Drinks
Egg nog and other holiday goodie-type drinks are loaded with sugars. When you drink these types of beverages—in moderation!– remember to also drink water. Water will help wash away the sugars from the teeth. And alcohol will dry out your mouth.
Curse of Hard Candy
Hard candy is terrible for teeth. Yes, there is sugar in hard candy and sugar can be damaging. But even the small round peppermint candies Santa leaves behind in some stockings can chip or crack a tooth. When you consume hard candy, make sure that you don’t bite down when the candy is still intact; biting down and chewing on hard candy might work ninety-nine times out of one hundred, but then there is that one time when the teeth strike the candy awkwardly, or the candy is built too solid for the teeth to handle, and damage occurs. Not good! A cracked or chipped tooth can be painful, and require an immediate and unfortunate trip to your dentist at Silver Creek Dental.
If you have any questions, or if you would like to schedule your next routine checkup with your dentist at Silver Creek Dental, then call today.
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