Happy, Healthy Thanksgiving from Your Gladstone, Oregon Dentist!

McDowell Family and Cosmetic Denistry knows that with all this great food around, it might be easy to forget how important maintaining your oral health is, even– or especially– over the holidays. To help out, we’d like to offer the following tips.

Skip the carbs

Yes, with the holidays there are more sweetbreads and cookies than you can shake a stick at, but loading up on carbohydrates isn’t just risky for your waistline (unless you’re gearing up for a marathon)– it can impact your dental health too. Carbs stick to teeth and keep feeding bacteria long after you’ve concluded your meal. If you indulge, be sure to brush your teeth afterwards!

Drink water

It’s not just important to stay hydrated– water helps to wash food out of your mouth, and it’s your best choice of beverage when offered sweetened tea or soda.

Eat greens

Salad and vegetables aren’t just vehicles for dressing– they pack a nutritious punch! Leafy greens contain loads of vitamin A and C, both of which combat forms of gum disease. Plus, vegetable starches like yams, sweet potato, and winter veggies, are delicious, and they don’t stick to teeth like more processed starchy foods.

Avoid sticky sweets

Pecan pie, taffy– these good, old-fashioned and much beloved treats are actually pretty bad for your teeth! The problem is that these tacky, sticky sweets get stuck in your teeth– much like bready carbohydrates do, but perhaps more vigorously. The sugars stay in your mouth for hours, feeding bacteria. Dr. Mosley recommends brushing immediately after eating if you should choose to indulge.

We’d love to speak to you!

For more tips, contact us– our goal is to keep holidays both fun and healthy for your teeth! Give us a call or come visit Dr. Mosley, your favorite Gladstone, Oregon, dentist!

Photo Credit: thebittenword.com via Compfight cc