Thanksgiving is upon us and Christmas is just around the corner! With the holiday season in full swing, the one question on our mind has been: \u201cWhat does this mean for our teeth?\u201d
There is no denying it: the holidays do contribute to some bad dental days, starting from October 31st and carried on through the New Year, but are the holidays really the worst time for our teeth?
While this hasn\u2019t been largely proclaimed, based on my research I\u2019m going to have to declare: Yes, it is the worst time for your teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why Are the Holidays So Bad for Your Dental Health?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a few factors that contribute to tooth decay around the holidays:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thanksgiving <\/strong>and Christmas are holidays often spent with loved ones\u2013catching up, playing games and eating food, lots and lots of food! Resisting the urge to take part in holiday sugary sweets is difficult to do, but limiting how many sugary sweets you have is important for your dental health and your overall health. Thanksgiving\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Christmas\u00a0are holidays often spent with loved ones\u2013catching up, playing games and eating food, lots and lots of food!\u00a0 Resisting the urge to take part in holiday sugary sweets is difficult to do, but limiting how many sugary sweets you have is important for your dental health and your overall health.\u00a0 Finally, traveling for the holidays can get your normal hygiene routine out of whack. Forget your toothbrush? Enjoying those late-night games of Bananagrams or Spades? While the games might be fun, those late nights usually contribute to falling into bed without a second thought about brushing your teeth. Just stating the facts\u00a0(We\u2019ve all been there).<\/em> Thanksgiving is upon us and Christmas is just around the corner! With the holiday season in full swing, the one question on our mind has been: \u201cWhat does this mean for our teeth?\u201dThere is no denying it: the holidays do contribute to some bad dental days, starting from October 31st and carried on through the […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2079,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2078","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general-articles"],"yoast_head":"\n
Snacking endlessly on Thanksgiving and Christmas leftovers may be a good way to get rid of all that food, but this method of eating is actually bad for your dental health. Eating without a significant break doesn\u2019t give saliva a chance to clean the bacteria off your teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFactor #2: Massive amounts of sugary sweets<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Halloween<\/strong>\u2026 Thanksgiving\u2026 Christmas. These are each fun holidays to celebrate, but ones that are overwhelmingly full of desserts and sugary foods. What makes Christmas even worse out of the three is that it is a monthly <\/em>celebration. The baked goods, Christmas treats and Christmas parties are about to begin, with all manner of tasty snacks.
So why is sugar so bad? When you eat sugar, sugar turns into acid, which causes teeth to decay.
You don\u2019t have to skip all of those Thanksgiving and Christmas goodies though. There are ways to protect your teeth this holiday season while also enjoying a few tasty morsels. We\u2019ll talk more about that later in this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFactor #1: Constant snacking throughout the day<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Snacking endlessly on Thanksgiving and Christmas leftovers may be a good way to get rid of all that food, but this method of eating is actually bad for your dental health. Eating without a significant break doesn\u2019t give saliva a chance to clean the bacteria off your teeth.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFactor #2: Massive amounts of sugary sweets<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
Halloween<\/strong>\u2026 Thanksgiving\u2026 Christmas. These are each fun holidays to celebrate, but ones that are overwhelmingly full of desserts and sugary foods. What makes Christmas even worse out of the three is that it is a\u00a0monthly\u00a0<\/em>celebration. The baked goods, Christmas treats and Christmas parties are about to begin, with all manner of tasty snacks.
So why is sugar so bad? When you eat sugar, sugar turns into acid, which causes teeth to decay.
You don\u2019t have to skip all of those Thanksgiving and Christmas goodies though. There are ways to protect your teeth this holiday season while also enjoying a few tasty morsels. We\u2019ll talk more about that later in this post.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFactor #3: Traveling and getting out of the normal routine<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s a lot that going out of town can do to mess up your normal routine. The important thing to do is not to let it. Have a toothbrush or floss with you, rinse out your mouth after meals, prioritize brushing your teeth before starting the games with the family, etc. There is a lot you can do to prevent poor dental health this season.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"