The arrival of the holiday season means that you and your family will face some of the greatest challenges to maintaining good oral health. Everywhere you and your family turn, there will be some sweet temptation that could lead to cavities and other dental problems later. Forbidding everyone from eating sweets sounds like the solution, but you cannot watch your family all the time. However, there are some things you can do to protect everyone's teeth and gums.

Encourage Nuts & Non-Acidic Fruits

Since eliminating sweets completely from your family's diet is likely not possible, you should look to alternative snacks that are healthy for them and not damaging to the teeth. One good alternative is to add nuts to the holiday snacks table. Nuts are not only good to eat, but they help remove debris from the surface of your family's teeth as they eat.

You can also use fruit to help quell sugary urges. Non-acidic fruits, such as cantaloupe, apples, and grapes, are sweet and do not have harmful acid in them like some candies and sweet treats. Acid can have an erosive impact on teeth and weaken the enamel.

Limit the Sweets

Now is likely not the time to wage an all-out battle with your family about eating sweets. Your kids are probably being bombarded with them at school and family members are undoubtedly placing sweet treats everywhere for them to enjoy. Forbidding the treats will likely not work, but push them to load up on them when they have a chance.

You can avoid this by letting your family have the occasional treats. Instead of giving the treats to your family throughout the day, try serving them during a meal. The other food will help to remove the sticky residue from their teeth and you have the bonus of them brushing their teeth shortly after. You also have more control over which sweets they are consuming.

Keep Dental Products Available

If you and your family are traveling throughout the holidays, make sure you have compact kits with a brush, floss, and toothpaste for each family member. No matter where you travel to, they will still have a chance to keep up with their dental hygiene.

You can even take some bottles of water to be used if you are going to be eating on the road. Not only will your family thank you for safeguarding their oral health, but the dentist will, too.

Once the holiday season has passed, do not forget to schedule checkups for your family. Schedule those checkups through a local dentist.