Keeping Your Winning Summertime Smile!

Summer is upon us and for most people, this means digging out the swimming trunks, skimpy gear and rusted barbeque equipment, and at some stage getting around to giving the pool (or the pea soup that it has become) a good acid shock. Summertime is also a season for strutting and this means getting back into shape. And a fundamental component of this new regime should be your oral health, says the dentist .

Yet, in spite of our resolve to get healthy, exercise and steer clear of fatty foods and poor lifestyle habits, there is an impressive line of events that inexorably marches towards us during this hot and happy season. Amusement parks, barbeques, fun fairs, celebrations… it would seem that instead of getting into shape, the indulgent summer menu of outdoor cooking, ice-cream and cold sugary drinks is sending our waistlines and oral health in the opposite direction! Make the summer of 2018 different for you and your family. Just because it’s hot and the kids are screaming for ice-cream doesn’t mean that the health of your pearly whites needs to take a backseat. Here’s some advice from the dentist for enjoying a happy and healthy summer!

Advice from the Dentist this summer
The problem with that summertime heat (besides making the beach look like a far better way to spend the day than in the office) is that it makes one incredibly thirsty. And the problem with being thirsty all the time is that there is no better prospect than quenching that thirst with an ice-cold sugary cola! Well, hot of the press, is that sipping on sugar-rich drinks everyday takes a terrible toll on our teeth. Not only are dark colas one of the top teeth staining offenders, but the sugar they leave behind encourages the flourishing of oral bacteria, according to the dentist . This leads to the formation of cavities and the accumulation of plaque (soft deposits of bacteria), which hardens to form tartar. The dentist has seen it too many times before: diets that are consistently high in sugar frequently lead to acute and chronic bacterial infections in the mouth! Aside from the poor aesthetics of having periodontal (gum) disease, the resultant bad breath is certainly not going to compliment that sexy summertime outfit of yours, is it?

Unfortunately, it’s not just soft drinks that we need to limit our consumption of. Fruit juices that masquerade as being healthy are also extremely high in sugar, as are sports drinks. The moral of this story is that during summer, when the temperatures are sweltering, the cotton is high and all that poetry, you should be quenching that thirst with good old fashioned H2O. The dentist and other health practitioners cannot stress how important clean fresh water is to our health. Our body chemistry is facilitated by water and we should be drinking eight glasses of it every day; not only to stay healthy, but to keep our mouths irrigated and clear of sugary residues.

In Conclusion…

So, instead of that sweet cola, opt for a bottle of ice cold mineral water to quench your thirst this summer. That way, according to the dentist , your winning summertime smile will last until well into fall, then winter, spring, summer, fall, winter, spring….