Winter can be a challenging time for maintaining oral health. This happens for several reasons, but the good news is that being aware of the challenges can help you avoid them and/or take smarter measures to correct them. As your family dentist in Bingham Farms, MI, Jamestowne South Dental Cracchiolo wants to ensure his patients know how best to handle their teeth in the coldest months of the year. The following is a look at why teeth are more at risk in winter, and what patients can do to help themselves.

Are you having winter tooth pain or sensitivity? Jamestowne South Dental can help!

How Teeth Can Be More Vulnerable in Winter

How, exactly, are teeth more at risk in the wintertime? The following are a few factors that can play into this:

• Extreme Cold: For many people, their skin can feel a lot drier and more sensitive in cold weather. The same can be true for your teeth! It works like this: teeth can contract in cold temperatures and expand in warm temperatures, which can create some discomfort when going from outside to inside. This process can cause tiny cracks in your teeth, which can expose nerve fibers that are sensitive to cold.
• Increase in Sugar Consumption: From Halloween through the winter holidays, people tend to eat way more sweets than normal. As we know, sugar is bad for our teeth, so the more unhealthy things we eat, the worse it is for our teeth.
• Seasonal Illness: We are all more susceptible to illnesses in the winter because we’re stuck inside with other people more than in the warmer seasons. As we contract colds, sinus infections, the flu, and COVID-19, our immune systems weaken, creating a path for more germs in the body. Nasal congestion can put pressure on dental nerves, causing increasing tooth sensitivity and even some pain.

Taking Care of Your Teeth in Winter

So how do you take care of your teeth in the winter to avoid this? Here are a few tips:

• Replace Your Toothbrush: You should replace your brush once every three or four months to minimize the spread of germs.
• Stay Healthy: If getting sick can cause problems, do what you can do to stay healthy, including washing your hands frequently and using hand sanitizer.
• Watch Your Diet: Knowing how sugar intake can negatively impact your teeth, try to avoid overdoing the sweets during the holidays.
• Drink a Lot of Water: Fluoridated water is, of course, the best option, but drinking more water in general washes away food particles and reduces troublesome bacteria in your mouth.
• Make an Appointment with Jamestowne South Dental: Of course, if you’re having issues with sensitivity or any other dental issues that arise in the winter months, make an appointment with Jamestowne South Dental so he can help you!

Getting Help from Your Bingham Farms Dentist

If you’re experiencing more tooth sensitivity than usual, or your tooth sensitivity is causing you serious pain, make an appointment with Jamestowne South Dental so he can help you feel more comfortable and take better care of your teeth throughout the winter. He doesn’t just do cosmetic dentistry in Bingham Farms; he also helps patients take great care of their teeth, even in the months when it’s the hardest.