3 Ways to Keep your Smile Bright During the Holidays

As the holiday season comes upon us, we are headed toward parties, events and luscious holiday snacks.  We also tend to eat more sugary snacks and foods.  Time is limited, so it is more important than ever to be intentional about keeping our teeth healthy.

  1. Drink Water after Holiday Beverages

For the kids who are not drinking alcoholic beverages, rinsing with water after downing a sugary soda helps dilute the plaque that takes over.  As for Mom and Dad, rinsing after a glass of wine helps too.  Plaque produces acid that attacks the enamel of teeth.

  1. Be Careful with Sweet Treats

Candy canes and cookies wreck your teeth, so consume in moderation.  This is difficult for many.  Chocolate by itself can be beneficial as it creates a waxy layer that temporarily protects the enamel from acid producing plaque.  Good News! Also chewing gum with xylitol can benefit the teeth as well following a “sugar surge”.

  1. Try to Keep Stress Low

This is easier said than done, but it can be done.  Stress can bring on grinding and clenching and this can be damaging to tooth structure, as well as create pain in teeth, jaws, and joints.  Headaches can flair up as well.  A low stressed individual is less likely to attract illness producing germs!  Keep it cool… Cheers!

How to Throw Away your Dental Benefits

Many dental patients ask questions daily about their dental benefits, because they just don’t understand them.   Most dental plans have a 12 month cycle, which means that they are given a certain dollar amount of dental work to have done at no cost to the patient.  For most of us, this cycle ends December 31st, just a few weeks away.   For the few of us that understand what these benefits are – as humans, we still procrastinate to do something about it.

Since so many are now asking when they can schedule before the end of the year, we have opened up a few extra appointment times to accommodate.  These won’t be around long.

Please call our business team to ask about your particular dental plan if you have one.  If you don’t have one, we offer a Dental Membership Plan at Fixari Family Dental too.  We want you to maximize the benefits you already have for 2015.