Christmas and the summer holidays are often a time when health matters take a back seat and sugar consumption skyrockets.
But even when everyone’s focus is understandably on festive feasts with family and friends, and unwrapping those presents under the tree, the ADA is reminding people that they still need to pay attention to maintaining good oral health.
Even with all the schedule disruptions that come with social events, travel, and late nights, there are four main messages that people should keep in mind:
– Brush teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste.
– Clean between your teeth daily using floss or interdental brushes.
– Eat a healthy, balanced diet and limit added sugar intake.
– Visit the dentist regularly for check-ups and preventive care.
To help get the message across to patients, the ADA’s teeth.org.au has published “Here comes the festive season: 3 tooth-friendly tips for Christmas”, which stress avoidance of mindless eating, canning the candy cane and limiting sugary drinks and alcohol, and also launched a series of 12 days of great oral health tips for people across the teeth.org.au Facebook and Instagram pages.
The tips include everything from keeping up daily oral hygiene routines and choosing water over sugary drinks to opting for opening items with scissors and bottle openers rather than teeth.
The aim is to direct people to the teeth.org.au site which has a wealth of oral health information that people can take and use immediately, and which dentists can direct their patients too for fact-checked, up-to-date and authoritative tips on maintaining good oral health, not only at Christmas but right throughout the year.
