How to Maintain a Beautiful Holiday Smile

The holidays are upon us! It is the time of year when you want your smile to look its best. There will be many family photos, laughing over the turkey and cheering over glasses of wine. There are plenty of opportunities to show off your smile!

Opting for a professional teeth whitening treatment before the holidays is the perfect way to brighten your smile before the festivities begin. When it comes to maintaining that beautiful smile, follow these tips.

Stay Consistent with Your Oral Hygiene Habits

The holidays are busy, full of feasting, merrymaking, and precious time with loved ones. It can be surprisingly easy to let your oral hygiene habits slip between late-night dinner parties and packed mornings.

If you want to avoid post-holiday cavities, you need to remain consistent with your oral hygiene regime. Doing so will also help you combat staining, which can dull your smile over the holiday season.

Remember, good oral hygiene involves:

Brushing your teeth twice daily.
Using a fluoride toothpaste and a soft-bristled toothbrush.
Waiting 30 minutes to brush your teeth after eating.
Flossing daily.
Rinsing with an antiseptic mouthwash.
Visiting your Toronto dentist at Bloor West Smiles every six months.

You should also prepare your on-the-go dental care kit for the holidays. That way, you’re less likely to forget something essential when visiting friends or family.

Keeping a toothbrush, fluoride toothpaste, and dental floss with you makes it convenient to clean your teeth after eating or drinking, no matter where you are.

Keep High Sugar Snacks and Treats to the Minimum

Visions of sugar plums aren’t the only things dancing through our heads over the holidays. There are also chocolates, candy canes, cakes, cookies, yule logs, and sweet breads.

For most of us, sugar consumption skyrockets during winter. This consumption is bad news for your health in general, but it’s awful for your teeth.

Reducing your intake of sugary snacks, treats, and desserts is essential to prevent plaque buildup and tooth decay. Therefore, it is recommended to minimize your consumption as much as possible. Whenever possible, choose vegetables and whole grains instead.

When you indulge in something sweet, do so at mealtime. The extra saliva your mouth produces during a meal helps wash away the problematic sugars. Additionally, rinsing your mouth with water afterwards has a similar effect.

Avoid Beverages that Stain Your Teeth

You'll be smiling a lot over the holidays, and of course, you want your smile to look its best for every photo opportunity and selfie. Unfortunately, that glass of red wine in your hand is actively working against you! Certain beverages have staining superpowers and can dramatically affect the appearance of your smile.

Red wine, tea, and coffee can all stain teeth over time. These drinks are all acidic, meaning they gradually erode tooth enamel, eventually dulling your smile. Additionally, they contain staining substances (tannins in coffee and anthocyanins in red wine) that yellow your smile.

Taking a sip of water afterwards can mitigate the effects of these beverages. Although this won’t eliminate staining, rinsing your mouth helps wash away some tannins and anthocyanins.

Don’t Use Your Teeth like Tools

Teeth are incredible tools when it comes to enjoy your favourite foods and dazzling people with your winning smile. However, you shouldn’t use them as an actual tool.

Your teeth are not a pair of scissors, a knife, or a nutcracker. Using them as if they are will not lead to positive outcomes. Instead, you will likely crack a tooth and end up with a painful emergency trip to the dentist.

The holidays are busy enough; don’t add scheduling emergency dental surgery into the mix!

You should use your teeth for smiling, laughing, talking, and eating. Anything else is outside their job description. Under no circumstances should you ever use your teeth to open wrapped presents or sealed parcels.

Keep scissors or a knife handy instead. Similarly, never attempt to shell nuts with your teeth. That’s what nutcrackers are for.

Eliminate Bad Habits

The New Year is right around the corner. It’s a time for new resolutions, beginnings, and habits. Perhaps you plan on ditching some bad habits as a New Year’s resolution? If that’s the case, why wait?

Saying no to unhealthy behaviours can significantly improve your oral health. Quitting smoking is the most obvious example. Using tobacco in any form is one of the worst things you can do for your teeth (and your overall health). It causes tooth staining, turning your naturally beautiful smile into shades of yellow, brown, or black.

Furthermore, tobacco is linked to tooth decay, gum disease, bad breath, and oral cancer.

Brighten Your Smile with Professional Teeth Whitening

When you look back at the pictures from this holiday season, do you want to be confronted with a dull and yellow smile? Or do you want to be impressed by your glowing, bright, and unstained set of pearly whites?

The choice, ultimately, is yours. Stained and yellowed teeth are not a life sentence. Brightening your smile for the holidays is easy with the cosmetic dentistry at Bloor West Smiles.

Professional teeth whitening is significantly more effective than over-the-counter methods and won’t damage your teeth! Unfortunately, some at-home whitening kits contain problematic chemicals that harm tooth enamel.

With Bloor West Smiles, we whiten your teeth safely, and the results will last longer. After your initial treatment and custom fitting, you are given a take-home whitening tray to whiten your teeth from the comfort of your home.

We show you how to do this safely and answer any questions. The trays are customized for your mouth, ensuring a perfect and comfortable fit. Plus, the process will not damage your enamel.

Show off a brighter, whiter smile this holiday season with Bloor West Smiles! Contact us to learn more about our professional teeth whitening and cosmetic dentistry services.

To learn more about teeth whitening and other cosmetic dentistry, call Bloor West Smiles at 647-371-1407 or contact us here.