Dangers of Holiday Snacking

When relaxing during the holidays, millions of people indulge in holiday treats as they enjoy the convenience of bags of chips, candies, chocolates, and pretzels that they pick on between meals. While consuming sugary, hard, and sticky items in moderation is okay, there is still an increased risk of several dental problems, in addition to weight gain, according to Chula Vista Dentist, Dr. Deanna Risos.

Common dental risks from holiday snacking include fractured teeth, tooth decay, and gum disease. Some common snacks that may affect your oral health include:

1. Popcorn – Biting on the hard popcorn kernels and husks can lead to broken teeth and fracture fillings. The popcorn also easily gets stuck between your teeth, especially when coated with caramel, which can not only break your tooth, but also increase the risk of tooth decay.

2. While flour crackers – Crackers with cheese spreads are a favorite holiday meal snack. Unfortunately, bleached white flour easily transforms into sugar and creates a favorable environment for bacteria in your mouth to form acids that lead to tooth decay.

3. Dried fruit – While fruits are health, dehydrated fruits contain concentrated sugars that stick to your teeth for longer, allowing bacteria to feed on them and create acids that wear tooth enamel. Choose fresh fruit instead.

4. Cookies – The combination of white flour, high sugar content, and stickiness makes cookies extremely dangerous for your oral health.

5. Candy – Biting into hard candy can lead to tooth fracture, while sucking on them increased the sugar and acid content in your mouth.

Although snacking is fun and enjoyable, it can be extremely harmful to your teeth because you are using your mouth a lot more than usual – three meals a day. Snacking is not the same as chewing sugar-free gum because the latter stimulates the flow of saliva to help clean your mouth.

Snacking, on the other hand, means that you are exposing your teeth too hard and sugary items that feed bacteria in your mouth and weaken tooth enamel through demineralization. In addition, snacking makes you less conscious of your dental health, meaning that you won’t necessarily remember to clean or rinse your mouth after each snack. Brushing soon after eating sugary or acidic foods may also be harmful due to the risk of abrasion.

Taking a break between meals is important to allow for proper remineralization – where your saliva supplies calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals to rebuild tooth enamel.

How to keep your mouth healthy during the holidays.

You can reduce dental damage during the holiday season by limiting your sugar intake; swishing and rinsing the mouth with clean water regularly; crunching on raw vegetables to clear the stickiness; chewing sugar-free gum; and brushing and flossing regularly, especially before going to bed.