You Can Have a Healthy Smile and Eat Your Favorite Holiday Foods, Too!

The holidays are here and your schedule is filling up fast! The next month and a half may be a little hectic, but don't forget to keep up with your oral hygiene routine every morning and night. There are going to be family dinners upon family dinners with an overwhelming amount of delicious food. Unfortunately, not all of these tasty meals are going to be too nice to your smile. Below, Dr. Shah-Khan discusses the best way to maintain a healthy smile during these busy holiday gatherings.

There will be some dishes that you only have during the holiday season - stuffing, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, and more - that make your mouth water just thinking about them. Your taste buds could be going crazy, but your teeth and gums may start to ache. There will be countless sugary treats spread across the table, but if you indulge in too much, you're quickly causing bacteria build-up and putting you at a higher risk for cavities and decay.

Thankfully, there are a couple of tasty things that don't totally ruin your teeth. Cranberry, a popular addition to a holiday meal, contains compounds that fight against certain bacterial allies so there's a lesser chance of plaque build-up. Red wine also contains compounds, like polyphenols, that can halt the plaque-forming process and limit the amount of acid that the bacteria produces.

While these are certainly tips to look forward to since you now know that your entire meal isn't destroying your smile, too much of a good thing can still be a bad thing. Having too much cranberry or red wine can still negatively affect your teeth - their deep, dark colors have the ability to stain your enamel and make your smile look a bit dimmer than before. Your holiday meals typically contain so much sugar, starch, and carbohydrates that there could be little to no benefits even if you enjoy some wine or cranberry.

Our goal is to help you identify the foods and drinks that can harm your oral health and try balancing it by maintaining your dental routines and avoiding having too many delicious but dangerous meals.

To protect your smile during this holiday season, be sure to schedule an appointment with your Charlotte NC dentist, Dr. Shah-Khan. Don't forget that the end of the year is fast approaching, so we want you to get the most out of your insurance benefits! Call our office at (704) 372-6393 to pick the best date and time for your visit.