Festive hygiene

All of the food and drink we consume over the Christmas period not only stretches our waistlines- it affects our teeth and gums too!

Whether it’s a cheeky mince pie or digging into your selection boxes; throughout December we hugely increase our intake of sugar through alcohol and sweets so it’s very important to keep up a good oral hygiene routine. However, it’s not just about how much sugar we consume over Christmas, rather it’s how long it stays in our mouths.

The frequency of eating sugary foods over Christmas means that the mouth doesn’t have a chance to neutralise the mouth using saliva to reduce the impact on our teeth. Therefore, it’s recommended to try and restrict eating sweets and other sugary foods and drinks to mealtimes. This is because during meal times we produce more saliva which helps to neutralise the mouth reducing bacteria, it also helps to rinse away food particles lowering the negative effects of sugar attacking the teeth.

A good piece of advice is to try and brush teeth three times per day over Christmas in addition to flossing to help brush away any bacteria. You should brush for two minutes, try humming ‘I wish you a merry Christmas’ whilst your brushing- not only is it fun and festive, you’ll make sure you’ve brushed for long enough too!

Sugar free chewing gum also helps, as it helps to produce more saliva which again will wash away any harmful bacteria caused by these ‘naughty’ foods.

Dentistry@68 wishes all of our patients a merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.

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