In this part of the country, Mother Nature can be pretty confusing. From one week to the next, the weather patterns can be so inconsistent, you’d only know which season it is by the date rather than by stepping outside. It’s often the case that the transition from one season to the next takes a few weeks to settle in.

But eventually, once the cold weather has claimed its territory over Zanesville, OH, it’s on!

And our team at Hawkins Complete Dental Service wants to make sure you’re prepared.

Today, we’re telling you why it’s time to start thinking about winterizing your smile!

Time To Think About Winterizing Your Smile!

Here are some ways you can protect your teeth as the winter season has the forecast numbers plummeting over the next couple of months!

*Cold Temps & Your Teeth*

It gets pretty cold this time of year in Zanesville, OH, so you already know how quickly the teeth chattering can begin once you step outside to scrape the car windshield before work.

What might come as a surprise, however, is how the back and forth temperature changes can make your teeth more vulnerable to damage.

If you breathe through your mouth while outside in the cold, your teeth contract. Then once you head back inside and warm up, they’ll expand.

All of this happens to such a slight extent that you won’t even notice, but the consequences could show up at your next dental visit in the form of tiny fractures to your enamel.

So it’s helpful to keep your teeth physically shielded from the frigid temperatures by covering your mouth with a scarf or keeping your mouth closed while outside.

*Winter Sports & Your Smile*

If anyone in your family plays a winter sport, you want to make sure it doesn’t come at the cost of a healthy smile.

Custom mouthguards from an experienced dentist are the best way to protect athletes from dental injuries while hard at play. With the precise, comfortable fit that only a professional can provide, an athletic mouthguard is essential to full coverage of teeth and gums and to the prevention of serious blunt force to the face, mouth, jaw, and head.

*Ice Vs. Water*

Don’t let your daily water turn solid in the coming icy temps!

Although the impulse is to up your intake of hot tea or coffee to stay warm, you don’t want to forget that drinking plenty of water is something your body and your mouth both need all year long!

Saliva is your natural defense, not only against harmful bacteria that it washes away, but against acids that aim to penetrate your tooth enamel.

Stay warm, but don’t forget to stay hydrated, too!

*Weather Changes & Nutrition*

One of the ways the falling temperatures affect all of us is with our daily diet.

It’s the season of comfort food! Big pots of chili, loaded potato soup, creamy mac and cheese… it might feel like we just enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner, but is anyone getting hungry all of a sudden?

As your nutrition changes along with the colder season, you’ll want to make sure you’re not indulging in too much of those comfort foods that are loaded with sugar and refined carbs.

This will only give bad bacteria in your mouth a feast of its own to warm itself! You don’t want to give it any additional fuel to generate harmful acids that erode your teeth!

At your next dental checkup, take advantage of our nutritional counseling so you can be informed about smile-friendly foods of the winter season.

Schedule An Appointment Now!

The cold temps are already here, which means you need to winterize your smile before the frigid season takes a toll on your healthy teeth!

To learn more about mouthguards, nutritional counseling, and our other preventive services in Zanesville, OH, call Hawkins Complete Dental Service today at 740-214-1301 or fill out our convenient online form to schedule an appointment.