When the holidays arrive, it’s normal for bad habits to make appearances in our daily lives more often than they should. But if you’ve invested in yourself and got dental implants in Allentown, it’s even more important to protect your beautiful smile this season. Keep reading to learn about a few bad holiday habits that can damage your dental implants and how to protect your teeth. 

Using Your Teeth as a Tool

When wrapping gifts, opening bottles or cracking walnuts, your first thought may be to just use your teeth instead of using scissors, a bottle opener or a nutcracker. Doing any of these with your teeth can chip or fracture both your natural teeth and your implants. Make sure you are using proper tools (and not your teeth!) to take care of tasks like these.

 

Drinking Wine

Red wine may be good for your heart, but it’s not so great for your dental implants. Tannins, which are naturally occurring compounds that can be found in plants and fruit skins, are used to create the deep reds and browns in wine, coffee and tea. These macromolecules can bind to your teeth and implants, causing them to become discolored. If you are going to drink wine, it’s a good idea to eat cheese with it. Cheese, especially cheddar or other hard cheeses, coats your teeth with calcium, which helps to protect them from stains.

 

Chewing on Ice

Chomping on the ice leftover from that soft drink or iced tea you got while doing some last-minute holiday shopping may be one of your favorite things to do. But with each satisfying crunch, your teeth and implants are at risk. The combination of cold temperature and pressure from your jaws can easily cause them to break, crack or chip. Rather than crunching on ice, you may consider eating nuts, like walnuts or almonds. These nuts are full of magnesium, calcium and iron that will make you and your natural teeth strong and healthy.

 

Smoking

Peppermint or gingerbread-flavored cartridges for your vape pens may get you into the holiday spirit, but smoking anything can be very damaging to your oral health. Cigars, cigarettes and e-cigarettes often contain nicotine, which can hinder your jawbone from binding with your implants. Smoking also contributes to receding gums, gum disease and oral cancer, all of which can cause dental implant failure. Once you’ve decided to quit smoking, getting started can be hard. It may be helpful to speak with your primary care physician for help in deciding which options might be best for you.

 

The last thing you want to deal with this holiday season is problems with your dental implants. Avoiding these habits can help keep you at home with loved ones, and help you evade a dental emergency.

 

About the Practice

Drs. Bradford Young and Mark Enea are both Pennsylvania natives who received their educations from prestigious Pennsylvania universities. Their memberships include the American Dental Association, the Pennsylvania Dental Association, the Academy of General Dentistry and Lehigh Valley Dental Society. If you have questions about how to protect your dental implants this season, visit the website or contact the office at (610) 439-1363.