How to look after your teeth this Christmas

With just days to go until the big day itself, taking care of your oral health might be fairly far down on your Christmas to-do list. But with so many risks to your smile during the festive season, it’s more important than you might think to take a little extra care when it comes to your teeth.

Nobody’s going to judge you for enjoying a little overindulgence during the festive season, but there are some easy-to-follow ways to limit the impact on your dental health and ensure that you’re staying smile-safe during the celebrations, without the need for an emergency dental appointment.

Read on for the ten ways that you’re putting a healthy smile at risk this Christmas, and how to avoid doing any permanent damage to those pearly whites during the festive season.

1. Wrapping the presents

There’s not a soul among us who hasn’t spent Christmas Eve frantically wrapping gifts, wrestling a roll of wrapping paper whilst ripping off strips of sticky tape with your teeth. However, did you know that this can actually be an oral health hazard?

Using your teeth on sticky tape is an easy way to cause damage to your teeth. Ripping the tape puts pressure on the edges of your teeth, making it easy for them to weaken or even crack – the worst-case scenario is dislodging a crown or a veneer. Invest in a tape dispenser instead and save yourself the worry!

2. Limitless snacking

Christmas is synonymous with snacking, and a seemingly bottomless pile of treats to tuck into during the festive season. It’s easier than you might think to find yourself almost continuously grazing! But it’s this approach that can cause damage to your smile without you realising, thanks to the constant sugar intake.

Contrary to what you might expect, it’s not the volume of sugar you consume that will damage your teeth, but the frequency that you eat it. Every time you eat something sugary, the bacteria in your mouth will produce acids that can cause tooth decay. So, if you find yourself continually snacking, your teeth will be consistently producing this acid and creating a higher risk of decay.

The recommended solution? It’s far better to binge on a stash of sweets in one go, rather than coming back to them in small portions during the day – consider this permission to polish off your sweet treats in one fell swoop.

3. Picking at your teeth

With all the festive feasting going on, it’s likely that at some point, you might get a pesky morsel or two trapped between your teeth. But using anything other than dental floss or inter-dental brushes can cause damage to the teeth and gums – so leave those wooden toothpicks alone and whatever you do, don’t use your cutlery to try and dislodge any trapped specks.

Be gentle with your teeth. Start by swishing warm water around your mouth to soften and loosen any objects, and then gently work trapped food particles loose by using floss or an inter-dental brush.

4. Toffees and chewy sweets

Who doesn’t love a toffee penny? If you’re prone to dipping into those family-sized tubs of sweets during the Yuletide celebrations, take care – especially if you have had any kind of dental restorative work, such as fillings or veneers. They actually have the power to loosen or even remove fillings, crowns, bridges or veneers! If you can’t resist a sweet treat, skip the toffees and opt for a soft, melting chocolate or truffle instead, to limit any dental damage.

5. Cracking nuts

Cracking nuts with your teeth is always a bad idea – but you’d be surprised at those who still think otherwise. Every January, we see patients who’ve decided to try and crack nuts with their teeth over the festive season. The damage you can cause can be as extreme as shattering a molar – painful to say the least, and of course, invasive and tricky to fix.

Always use a nutcracker – no exceptions.

6. Ice cubes

With so many cocktails to enjoy, you’ll probably consume a lot of ice over the festive season – however, take care. Chewing on ice can create tooth fractures or even break teeth, particularly if you have any fillings or crowns. And of course, if you have sensitive teeth, you might want to steer clear of ice as it can be painful on the tooth surface – pour your drink into a chilled glass instead.

7. Drinking prosecco

Any celebration wouldn’t be complete with a sip of fizz, and it makes any Christmas party go with a bang. But did you know that prosecco is actually one of the biggest risks to your teeth? Prosecco is actually one of the drinks that can do the most dental damage. Packed with acid, sugar and alcohol, prosecco can sit on the tooth’s surface and cause damage to the enamel. There’s actually a so-called phenomenon called ‘prosecco smile’ that frequent drinkers shown signs of. To avoid this, enjoy prosecco in moderation, sip through a straw if you can, and try to limit the risk of erosion by drinking water in between each glass of fizz.

Another top tip – keep a cheeseboard handy, as a nibble of cheese can counteract the harmful acids building up. A great excuse for another slice of cheddar!

8. Opening bottles with your teeth

In the same way that you shouldn’t crack nuts with your teeth, opening bottles with your gnashers is a terrible idea – but it’s one that lots of people find themselves doing anyway, once the drinks are flowing. Opening bottles with your teeth has got the potential to cause serious dental damage to both teeth and gums. You should avoid doing this at all costs – make sure there’s plenty of bottle openers around, as nobody wants to have to rush a guest to the emergency dentist mid-party!

9. Mulled wine

It’s the most wonderful time of the year, and the perfect time to sup on a few glasses of mulled wine. But this festive favourite can take its toll on your teeth. Mulled wine and red wine are both bad news for teeth. Mulled wine is both acidic and sugary, which means that it can erode teeth enamel, lead to lower levels of calcium and ultimately, weaken your teeth. In addition to this, dark wines like this contains tannins, which make the tooth enamel more porous, and more susceptible to staining.

10. Neglecting your dental care routine

The festive season is an incredibly busy time. There is always so much to do, and - especially if you’re on a night out – dental hygiene, much like taking off your makeup, may be one of those things that slips by the wayside. Forgetting once or twice is unlikely to do your teeth any real harm, although it’s not ideal. The issue is if it becomes a regular occurrence. Skipping your pre-bedtime brush, especially during the festive season, can cause a rapid build up of problems, including decay, plaque and bad breath, as well as gum issues. Aim to brush for two minutes, twice a day, and make it a habit to be the first thing you do in the morning, and last thing you do before bed, so that it’s harder to forget.