Good Oral Health With Holiday Sweets & Treats
Posted on 11/05/2018

Maintaining Good Oral Health With Holiday Sweets & Treats

At Short Pump Dental in Richmond, VA, our family dentists and oral hygienists know how tough it can be for you and your kids to have a tooth-friendly holiday season - especially with Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas right around the corner! Nothing says the holiday season more than visiting the pumpkin patch, being thankful for family and friends, and waiting for Santa Claus to come Christmas eve...but unfortunately, many of this festivities involve arrays of sweet treats that can cause harm to your family’s teeth and gums.

Hard candies, sticky sweets, and delicious pies contain enormous amounts of sugar that can cake onto and hide in-between you and your children’s teeth, making it difficult to properly floss and brush all of that cavity-causing sugar away. Additionally, carbohydrates, starches, and hard savory foods can damage your smile all the same! Here at Short Pump Dental, it’s our goal to ensure that you and your children have a wonderful holiday season this year, so our dentists and hygienists have compiled a list of tooth-friendly holiday foods and sweets that we guarantee your family will enjoy, as well as a few tips on how to take care of your teeth after you indulge!

Trick-Or-Treat: Tooth-Friendly Halloween Candy

Halloween is one of the most fun holidays of the season! Dressing up, trick-or-treating, and coming home with pillowcases full of candy are activities that most of us can look back on with a smile. If you or your children are participating in spooky festivities this year, you can still have fun while staying tooth-friendly!

If you have a family of chocolate lovers, you’re in luck! Soft, milk-chocolate candies with easy-to-eat ingredients are the safest of all Halloween treats. Additionally, your children will most likely receive fun-sized portions of these chocolate bars when they are out trick-or-treating. Compared to king-sized candy bars, these smaller serving sizes do the work for you by automatically helping your kids cut back on their sugar intake and chewing time. Try to avoid treats that are hard and sticky, such as bubble gum, candy corn, gummy bears, or jawbreakers, which take a long time to suck on or chew.

Some of our favorite chocolatey, yet tooth-friendly and braces-friendly sweet treats include:

  • Kit Kats
  • 3 Musketeers
  • Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups
  • York Peppermint Patties
  • Junior Mints
  • Hershey Bars & Kisses

Happy Turkey Day: Thanksgiving Foods & Treats That Are Easy On Teeth

If you love to eat like a king or a queen, then Thanksgiving is most likely one of your favorite holidays of the year! From delicious turkey and stuffing to mounds of mashed potatoes and gravy, Thanksgiving is a time for family and friends to get together and celebrate with a bounty of savory and sweet treats.

Thankfully, the majority of traditional Thanksgiving foods are perfectly fine to eat. That said, if you or your child wears braces, try to avoid bone-in meats, popcorn, mixed nuts, and caramel apples.

Here are a few of our favorite Thanksgiving foods that will keep you in prime oral health:

  • Turkey or ham slices
  • Mashed potatoes and gravy
  • Soft dinner rolls
  • Stuffing
  • Pumpkin pie
  • Banana cream pie
  • Apple pie
  • Soft baked cookies

Santa Claus Is Comin’ To Town: Christmas Treats That Are On The “Nice” List

Christmas is one of the most exciting holidays of the season! From your children making their toy wish lists, to the family baking cookies for Kris Kringle, Christmas is filled with holiday cheer at every corner… as well as with loads of tasty baked goods and sugary snacks. This holiday season, we encourage you to celebrate with sweets within reason! That said, whether you wear braces or not, try to avoid hard, crunchy foods that can damage your teeth, such as peanut brittle or sticky toffees and fudge.

Instead, try these sweets:

  • Hot chocolate
  • Soft sugar cookies
  • Eggnog
  • Soft chocolates

Proper Oral Hygiene For Kids & Adults This Holiday Season

When you do celebrate with sweet treats this holiday season, it’s critical that you remember to brush and floss your teeth after every holiday feast. Proper oral hygiene is integral to making sure your family’s teeth and gums are as healthy as they can be. After your holiday festivities come to a close, get the whole family together to brush and floss all those sugars and starches away as soon as possible, and make sure there aren’t any food particles stuck on or in-between teeth!

Finally, and most importantly, good nutrition and a healthy diet are two of the most crucial elements for maintaining a healthy smile...so make sure to consume all of your holiday sweets in moderation.

Contact Short Pump Dental in Richmond, VA Today For More Oral Health Tips!

By following this comprehensive guide on tooth-friendly holiday treats, your entire family will be able to enjoy Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas to max while keeping their teeth and gums as healthy as can be. For more information on tooth-friendly holiday foods and treats, feel free to contact us today. After the holiday season is over, make sure to schedule a general cleaning, dental examination, or a teeth whitening appointment at Short Pump Dental for the entire family.

On behalf of our entire staff at Short Pump Dental in Richmond, VA, we hope you and your children have a delightful holiday season this year!