Avoid dental emergencies this holiday, while this time of the year is known for merry-making, laughter, and a family gathering, it’s also a time when lots of people may come out with their share of dental emergency risks. Due to the festivities, indulgent treats, and travel plans, the oral health may take the back seat. But just a few preventive measures may help you avoid everything and see that your vacation is rather filled with smiles and not dentist visits. Now, let’s give you a couple of recommendations on how to care for your teeth well and prevent a possible dental emergency, especially at this holiday period.
1. Avoid hard foods
The holiday season is such a time of indulgence for most people when they succumb to hard candies, nuts, ice, and popcorn kernels. These may be harmless items, but to your teeth, they pose a risk that could easily crack your teeth or even chip one off, both painful experiences and expensive repairs.
Instead: Hard candies or cookies are more gentle to the teeth, which would make it harder for them to damage the tooth. But still, in case you take a hard candy or even a caramel candy cane, you have to slowly masticate. It also minimizes the possibility of you putting too much pressure that might hurt your teeth and eventually your mouth.
2. Use Tools, Not Teeth
It might be tempting to use them as a tool to tear open parcels, crack nuts, or rips in packaging paper; however, this can be very damaging for your teeth and may lead to fractures, chips, or breakage.
What to Do Instead: Use the right tools for the job. You may spend money on a nutcracker, scissors, or a box cutter to safely open packages and crack open nuts. Your teeth aren’t for that. And if you start using them as tools, it could be unnecessary damage, especially in case of a major dental emergency.
3. Pack a Dental Kit
If you are traveling during your holidays, then you should carry a dental emergency kit. Traveling might take you away from a dentist you know, hence, dental issues can pose a challenge to be easily addressed while on the move. This way, you’d avoid unnecessary pain and discomfiture by knowing how to prepare for this eventuality.
What you should include in your dental emergency kit:
Toothbrush and Toothpaste: Don’t forget to brush regularly for oral maintenance especially if you have to leave the house. Pack a travel friendly toothbrush and toothpaste in your handbag and suitcase.
Dental Floss: In order to remove the food stuck between your teeth, it is necessary that you floss. You should also carry some floss with you for proper care of teeth.
Pain Relievers: Take over-the-counter ibuprofen or acetaminophen to alleviate pain if you have minor issues, so that by the time you see a dentist, these have minimized.
Dental Wax: When having braces or other types of dental work, carry dental wax for cushioning to soften your mouth against the irritation the metal parts cause in the mouth.
4. Sugary Foods and Beverages
Holidays go side by side with sweets indulgence and festive drinks. Alright, it is allowed that one enjoys these in moderation, while excessive sugar intake may cause tooth decay and cavities. Bacteria in your mouth use sugar as a source, producing acid that erodes the enamel of the tooth and causes dental problems.
What to Do Instead: Attempt to reduce sugary food and drink, and always brush your teeth after consuming such products. If you are drinking sugar-containing beverages, try using a straw to minimize exposure to your teeth. Drinking water immediately after eating a sugary snack helps to wash sugar away from your teeth, thus helping to prevent decay.
5. Continue to Practice Your Normal Oral Hygiene Routine
It is pretty easy to fall off in oral hygiene along with all the activities of the holiday season, but staying with your normal brushing and flossing is utmost in keeping the teeth clean. Failure to brush and floss results in plague build up, tooth decay, and gum infection.
Allocate a certain time during the day to brush and floss your teeth, no matter how busy you are. You can also carry portable oral care products while traveling if traveling is part of your normal routine. If you often visit other people, then ensure that you have everything it takes to keep carrying out your routine even in other people’s homes.
6. Be prepared with dental emergencies
Even with all precautionary measures in place, dental emergencies can crop up. A knocked-out tooth, a broken crown, or even excruciating tooth pain is all part of it.
What to Do Instead: Call your dentist at once. If you cannot reach him or her, seek an emergency dental clinic near you. In case of a knocked out tooth, gently rinse with water; do not scrub it and try to replace it into its socket, or put it in a cup of milk until you get to see a dentist.
Conclusion
That makes you completely safe throughout the holiday seasons with minimum dental emergencies cases, enjoy your festive holiday worry free on how the teeth of yours would face such periods. Limiting the taking of hard foods, getting the correct tools for flossing, and oral hygiene products in your packing list or sticking to all routine oral hygienic procedure will serve a long distance in retaining a healthy shine on that smile. Remember that a little bit of prevention today will save you from dental emergencies tomorrow. So enjoy your holiday with all your might, knowing that your smile is in the safest hands.