Food Making Our Dentist’s Naughty List This Holiday Season

There are so many tempting treats on the table during the holiday season. It can be easy to forget about your dental health and start enjoying the bevy of delights. However, you’ll pay the price when the holiday season is over. That next trip to our dentist in Austin could include bad news about cavities and necessary dental work. While you don’t have to completely abstain from your favorite holiday foods, there are a few that have made our dentist’s naughty list. These are the items you should avoid as much as possible!

What Food Is On the Naughty List?

Candy canes

While no sugary candy is great for your teeth, candy canes can be an especially poor choice. That’s because we tend to suck on these treats for an extended period of time; that allows the bacteria in your mouth to have a feast on the sugars from the candy cane and explode with growth in your mouth. Additionally, there is a risk of chipping your teeth on crunchy candy.

Eggnog

Eggnog is high in sugar, too, but traditional eggnog includes another bad-for-your-teeth ingredient: bourbon. Bourbon is very high in sugar, so you are getting a double dose of teeth-harming ingredients. Swapping it for another alcohol won’t help, either; many alcohols contain ingredients that can harm the calcium in your teeth.

if you are one of the rare people who actually like fruitcake, we have bad news: it’s not great for your teeth. Fruitcake is another sugary item on the holiday table, but this one has a hidden danger. If your fruit cake contains dried fruits and other sticky ingredients, it poses a risk to your dental work, as well. You could end up having to come in for an emergency dental appointment over the holidays because a particularly sticky piece of fruit cake pulled your filling out.

What If You Just Can’t Resist?

We understand! Trust us, we won’t judge you the next time you come in for a dental exam and admit to us that you indulged in one too many candy canes this year. But if you can’t resist, do your best to mitigate the damage. After you have a treat that’s bad for your teeth, try to brush them as soon as possible. Step up your flossing and rinsing habits during the holiday season, too. This will help eliminate the bacteria that feed on these sugary foods and cause periodontal disease. In addition, make sure you are making it to your dental exams twice a year. This will help our Austin dentist keep an eye on your teeth. That way if an issue is developing, it can be caught as soon as possible and corrective measures can be put into place to help stop the spread of damage.

Need to make an appointment to have your teeth checked? We still have appointments available during the holiday season! Give us a call or contact us through our website to make an appointment for a dental exam or other oral health need this month.