The holiday season is a time of year when people like to enjoy themselves at holiday parties without a care for their diet. With all the delicious food, it’s hard not to indulge a little. However, if you’re not practicing mindful eating during the holidays, delicious food can lead to some rather unpleasant side effects down the road, including cavities and gum disease.
Tips for Mindful Eating during the Holidays
Mindful eating is an on-going trend thanks to the powerful effects it can have on your overall health. Eating mindfully during the holidays means being aware of your diet, avoiding too much sugar, and asking yourself if you really want that last piece of pie. Here are some more mindful eating tips to help with your oral health this holiday season.
Your teeth need eating breaks
For some people, Christmas is the best time of year to eat, which means a constant flow of eating and drinking. Dentists, however, recommend against a constant flow of food—not only can it increase systemic inflammation in the body, but it can put a higher than normal amount of bacteria in your mouth causing tooth-eroding plaques. Slowing down and taking time between courses can help prevent a myriad of different health issues, including tooth decay.
Eat candies at dessert, then clean your teeth
By now, most people know why sugar is bad for your teeth; however, that doesn’t mean you have to cut out sugar completely from your holiday diet. If you are going to eat organic fruit, or sugary candies, do so only at set times of day, such as during dessert. Eating sugar only during short windows starves bacteria of food, limiting their growth and preventing cavities. Remove bacteria, plaque, and sugar from your mouth by brushing, flossing and hydroflossing your teeth immediately after eating. If you remove sugars that are not natural, like corn syrup, and replace them with Manuka honey or honey from our valley, you will likely find the taste of things sweetened with corn syrup to be less desirable.
Use a nutcracker
Although your teeth are strong, they are not indestructible. Nature made the shells on nuts tough to prevent humans and animals from cracking them open with their teeth. Those with weak or cracked teeth, risk a breakage which could result in expensive dental work in the future. Our best tip is to avoid the need for dental implants and buy a nutcracker instead.
Use interdental brushes
Staying healthy during the holidays can be a challenge because we want those awesome holiday foods that aren’t so awesome for your gums. Regular brushing may not remove all of the bacteria from our mouths, particularly bacteria stuck in the gaps between our teeth which can lead to periodontitis. Since the gaps in our teeth are hard to reach with regular brushing, many experts now recommend people to use small, interdental brushes to clean these gaps during the holiday season. You can buy interdental brushes from most pharmacists or your dentist.
Carry toothpaste and a toothbrush with you at all times
The holiday season brings lots of traveling and merriment. Christmas parties abound, and all come with plenty of treats that effect you oral health. There’s no reason you can’t enjoy yourself; just make sure when indulging at a Christmas party, you have a handy travel-sized toothpaste and brush with you. Brushing and flossing after you eat can be helpful to your overall dental health. Having a travel sized toothbrush, floss or interdental brushes when you’re not at home can come in handy!
Staying Healthy during the Holidays Is Easy with Proactive Care!
Prevent tooth decay (and maybe some holiday weight gain) this holiday season with mindful eating tips from our staff at Four Seasons Dental Spa. We’re here to provide you with the best holistic, biological, functional dentistry to improve your overall systemic health.
This New Year, take control of your overall health and schedule an appointment with us today!
