The holidays are full of unhealthy temptations that can sneak up on you and cause serious damage to your health. It’s hard to avoid the delicious holiday dinners, and to over-indulge in your favourite puddings, cakes and sweet treats. It can be really addictive, the sugar-coated apple-pie crusts, the sugar laden egg-nog, and let’s not even get started about the unending supply of Italian cookies in your workplace break room.

I’ll bet that your mouth is already watering at the prospect, right?

Well in addition to the battering that this festive onslaught causes to your waistline, there is a hidden danger that you may overlook. The risk of damage to your family’s teeth.

Let’s take a look at ways to protect those pearly whites in all the holiday frenzy.

What are the extra risks of dental damage during the holidays? 

The sugar content of holidays specialty drinks. One 16oz  Starbucks Egg Nog Latte alone contains a whopping 52grams of sugar – that’s about 12 heaped teaspoons of sugar -  the same as 20 digestive biscuits!  Imagine the damage that amount of sugary syrup can cause to your brilliant white teeth!.   

Regular snacking during the holidays. Even if you are not eating a large volume of sugary foods, it is very likely that over the Christmas period you’ll be having pretty regular snacks. This means that the bacteria produced by the sugars will accumulate in your mouth over a longer period of time, so that will prolong the attacks on your tooth enamel. 

Stress of the holidays.  Statistics from studies have shown that 88 percent of Americans feel stressed during the holidays and the average couple will have seven arguments throughout the season. The reasons can range from where they will spend the holidays (over 33%) and how much to spend on gifts (31%) .

More serious stressful reasons can result from fatalities during the holiday:  a study from the University of California has shown the risk of dying over the Christmas and New Year period increases “somewhere between 3% and 9% depending on the demographic group you look at, and between 1% and 10%, depending on the cause of death analysed.” This could leave your family having to deal with a deceased’s will and estate in the holidays, in which case you will have to break off and seek professional legal help, in which case click here.

 This type of stress, combined with unhealthy eating can cause you to clench your jaw and  grind your teeth, often while sleeping (called bruxism), so if you are stressed take measures to prevent teeth grinding now. 

Tough and chewy foods. The holidays are a time to eat foods that you might not normally consume – such as nuts, chewy sticky toffees, boned meats and the like. Most people do not bite and chew their food consciously, and it’s likely that you will in any case be distracted by conversation, standing up while eating and maybe even impaired by alcohol consumption.

This is a situation where you very easily bite or chop down on a hard food item and crack your crowns, fillings, or porcelain veneers .

What to do to protect your teeth during the hoildays

Make sure that you apply a regular flossing and brushing routines throughout the holidays, but be careful not to over brush, or to brush you and your children’s teeth earlier than an hour from consuming sugary foods and drinks. Don’t forget your doggy friends’ teeth either – more and more dog treats contain unhealthy sugar, which are especially damaging to young dogs, so when they enjoy their holiday treats, give them puppy chew bones that will help protect their little doggie teeth to remain healthy.

So now you know about the dangers of holiday sugars for your family’s teeth, take sensible preventative measures and your family will preserve their pearly smiles all holiday long!