The nights steadily get colder, and the leaves slowly change their colors from fresh greens to warm oranges and yellows. The holiday season is upon us, which means there’s plenty of food to be excited about.
Holiday foods can make anyone feel more cheerful during the holidays. Unfortunately, some seasonal foods are not suitable for dentures, which are delicate and can break when you eat something too sticky or too hard if you’re not careful.
Learn what holiday favorites you should avoid, what you can enjoy, and how to care for your dentures to make them last longer.
Dentures: How Durable Are They?
Before we learn which foods can break your dentures, let’s first learn how long dentures last.
Dentures are mostly made of durable materials. However, they may need adjustments or repairs to help them fit you better over time. With proper care, maintenance, and fit, your dentures can last five to ten years.
Regular visits to your dentist allow them to tell you if your dentures might need repair or if you need new ones, depending on how well you care for them.
If you find yourself with denture problems, don’t try to fix them yourself. It’s best that you take them to your dentist immediately.
Holiday Foods To Avoid
Watching what you eat helps your teeth stay healthy and your dentures last longer. However, it’s going to be challenging to do that during the holidays, what with all the parties and feasts going on all around.
Still, you should avoid some holiday treats or explore new ways to prepare your holiday treats from scratch that are safe for your teeth, fake or not.
As a guide, some foods to avoid with dentures during the holidays include:
Nuts
Nuts are a healthy and delicious snack. However, eating tough nuts can damage your denture’s palate and teeth. These create sharp edges in your dentures, which can severely irritate or even wound your tongue and gums.
Crunchy Fruits and Vegetables
Fresh fruits and vegetables are good for your overall health. However, crunchy fruits and vegetables like celery, carrots, and apples require a lot of biting power, which can loosen and shift dentures. If you have dentures, the best way to consume them is to slice them up or purée them.
Popcorn
While most prefer to eat it when watching a movie, it’s still a popular holiday snack, especially the glazed ones. However, its kernels can lodge into your teeth and underneath your dentures, causing severe pain and compromising the integrity of your dentures.
Tough or Well-done Meats
Chewing on tough meats like steaks can make dentures unstable. Too much chewing can cause sore spots in the areas where your gums and dentures meet. Avoid eating beef jerky or steaks to avoid these sores.
Sticky, Chewy, or Gummy Foods
Peanut brittle, caramel, and toffee are all holiday favorites. However, they are hard to chew for people with dentures. They can stick to your teeth and get stuck underneath your dentures, preventing them from adequately fitting and making them loose.
Hard Candy
Most families have a lot of candy to go through during the holidays. However, it’s not a good idea to bite into hard candies like jawbreakers or lollipops. They can easily damage or completely break your dentures. Stick to sugar-free gum or dark chocolate if you must satisfy your sweet tooth.
Holiday Foods To Enjoy
Here’s some good news: denture wearers don’t have to avoid all holiday treats. Here are some denture-friendly foods you can eat:
Cooked Vegetables
Steamed, microwaved, or boiled vegetables have soft textures that are safe and easy for denture wearers to eat. Cooked green beans, broccoli, carrots, and spinach are all excellent vegetable options to add to your holiday meals.
Ground or Slow-cooked Meats
Eating is more enjoyable the tenderer the meat is. Ground or slow-cooked meats are easier to chew and digest. The less you chew, the less you irritate your gums.
Chocolate
One can’t go wrong with chocolates during the holidays. Denture wearers can eat chocolate like holiday fudge if it isn’t full of toffee, nuts, or other crunchy ingredients.
Fruit
Seedless grapes, cherry tomatoes, and oranges are delicious and safe foods for denture wearers this holiday. Add them to your charcuterie board, or bake pears and apples for dessert for delicious holiday treats that won’t damage your dentures.
How To Care for Your Dentures
Your dentures need proper cleaning, care, and maintenance to help them last, especially during the holidays. You can care for them by:
Handle your dentures with care.
Prevent your dentures from breaking when you clean them by placing a towel on the sink or counter. Make sure you don’t bend or damage the plastic or the clasps when cleaning them.
Rinse your dentures after eating.
Remove food debris and loose particles from your mouth by rinsing your dentures with water after meals. This ensures their fit and prevents food particles from dislodging your dentures or causing you pain.
Brush your dentures every day.
Take out and clean your dentures every day. Remove food, plaque, and other deposits by soaking and cleaning your dentures with a non-abrasive cleaner and a soft-bristled toothbrush. You should also clean the grooves between your gums to remove denture adhesives. Don’t use denture cleansers inside your mouth.
Clean your mouth after wearing dentures.
Clean your mouth after wearing your dentures for the whole day. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush for your natural teeth and a gauze toothbrush for your tongue, cheeks, and the roof of your mouth. Remove any denture adhesive that remains on your gums.
Soak your dentures overnight.
Soak your dentures in water or a mild denture-soaking solution. Always check with your dentist how you should store your dentures overnight, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for cleaning and soaking.
Avoid using hot water to rinse your dentures before you put them in your mouth. Some denture-soaking solutions have chemicals that can cause nausea, vomiting, and burns.
Avoid products with bleach or abrasive ingredients.
Abrasive oral care products like harsh toothpaste, strong cleansers, and stiff-bristled toothbrushes can damage your dentures.
Some oral care products may also contain bleach that can weaken your dentures and change their color. Chlorine can also make your denture’s metal attachments tarnish or corrode.
Visit your dentist regularly.
Aside from checking your mouth’s overall health, your dentist will help ensure your dentures fit properly, avoiding discomfort and slippage. You should also visit them when your dentures stop fitting you well; ill-fitting dentures can cause irritation, infection, and sores on your gums and mouth.
Key Takeaway
Dentures help restore some of your teeth’s functions and keep you smiling confidently. Keep them safe by avoiding foods like hard candies, nuts, tough meats, or crunchy fruits and vegetables, which can potentially break your dentures. You should also remember to care for your dentures every day. Clean and brush them, and soak them overnight. Always handle them with care, and visit your dentist regularly to help keep them last.
Smile confidently this Christmas season with Century Dental.
Keep smiling confidently throughout the holidays. Our dentist in St. Pete Beach provides many teeth replacement options like dentures, bridges, and implants to help you feel as if you didn’t lose any teeth. Contact us today for more details about our services or oral health-related concerns.
