Dental emergencies can leave you with even more stress and take you away from your family during the holidays. Whether it’s because you chipped or knocked-out a tooth, the last place you want to end up during the most joyous time of year is with your dentist in their office. Instead of putting your oral health at risk over the next month, read on for five preventive tips to follow to reduce your risk of experiencing a dental dilemma.
Skip the Chewy and Sticky Sweets
Sugar feeds the harmful oral bacteria in your mouth, allowing them to produce waste such as enamel-eroding acid and toxins that cause a variety of common problems. Specifically, eating sweets that stick to your teeth and are harder for your saliva to wash away increases your risk of developing cavities. Although fudge or homemade holiday caramels may be your weakness, it could be what causes you to develop severe dental decay.
Don’t Use Your Teeth to Open Presents
If you’re enthusiastic about the holidays, you may not think twice before you gnaw open a package that your family member hands you with your teeth instead of waiting for them to grab you a pair of scissors. However, doing this could come at a steep price. Using your teeth as tools can wear them down faster and put you at risk of breaking, chipping, or cracking them.
Avoid Bad Oral Habits
The holidays can be stressful, triggering bad oral habits like nail biting and teeth grinding and causing them to become more severe. These can put you at risk for countless problems, such as infections, toothaches, and broken teeth. If you get easily stressed or worried during this time of year, try to step away from any situation causing you to feel this way and take time for yourself. Instead, do something relaxing to distract you, such as reading a book or meditating.
Stay Diligent About Brushing and Flossing
Your holiday schedule is most likely jammed pack full of family parties and get-togethers with your coworkers and friends. Being so busy could cause you to forget to keep up with routine brushing and flossing. Without a good oral hygiene routine, harmful substances like plaque and tartar will be allowed to accumulate in your mouth and cause countless issues that could leave you in your emergency dentist’s office.
Visit Your Dentist Before You Leave Town
The best way to avoid a trip to an emergency dentist is to schedule your semi-annual checkup and cleaning with your preventive dentist before you leave town. They’ll examine your mouth and be able to treat any lingering issues, keeping them from becoming a more serious problem while you’re with your family for the holidays.
With the right preventive measures in place, you’ll be able to spend more time with your family and less time with your emergency dentist. Following these tips will help give you peace of mind, allowing you to enjoy every second of the season!
About the Practice
At Painesville Dental group, our team of experienced dentists are passionate about getting to know our patients and help positively impact lives by providing high-quality and thorough treatment. We understand that accidents happen, which is why we offer emergency dental services to relieve our patients’ pain as quickly as possible. Our team will do everything we can to fit you into our appointment schedule that same day. For first-aid emergency guidance or to schedule an appointment, visit Painesville Dental Group’s website or call 440-354-2183.