Protect Your Dental Implants in Richmond While Enjoying Your Favorite Holiday Drinks

The holidays are prime time for celebrating. And this year you’ve got added reason to celebrate, thanks to your dental implants in Richmond. As with all smart investments, however, implants require a reasonable degree of self-care. With that in mind, here are some tips for enjoying your favorite holiday beverages.

Too Hot Is Never Cool

One of the things that makes dental implants superior to other forms of restoration is the medical-grade titanium that fuses them to your bones. This feature gives them remarkable durability and light weight. But, like all forms of metal, titanium is excellent at soaking up and storing heat.

This is normally no cause for concern, unless you like your coffee, tea or other beverages steaming-hot. An extremely warm drink can not only cause discomfort inside your gums, there’s a small chance that it might even loosen your implants. Most dentists recommend cooling things down just a bit, just to be on the safe side.

Hot and Cold Are a Bad Combination

Does it get cold in the winter where you live? If so, then you probably know what can happen when you try pouring hot water on an ice-covered windshield. Crack! You’re stuck with a hefty repair bill. Taking glass from cold to hot instantly is asking for trouble.

The same is true for other hard substances. Enjoying a cup of coffee, tea or cocoa followed soon afterward by a cold beverage can create stress fractures, in both your implants and your natural teeth. So allow a little time between indulging in hot and cold beverages this holiday season.

Drinking Too Many Acidic Beverages Could Spell Holiday Trouble

You may be setting both your implants and your natural teeth up for trouble if you overindulge in acidic beverages like tea, coffee, wine or soda. These products contain natural corrosives that can wear away at both tooth enamel and the ceramic materials used to make implants. Limiting your consumption of these types of drinks is always a good idea, both during the holidays and all year round.

Tobacco is a Witch’s Brew for Dental implants

While we’re on this topic, we should mention the harm that cigarettes and other tobacco products can cause, to implants as well as to natural teeth. Toxins in tobacco smoke can erode enamel as well as human-made dental restorations like implants, setting you up for long-term problems.

This problem is in addition to the other devastating effects that tobacco can cause. Talk to your dentist in Richmond or your regular physician about new medications that can help you to kick the habit for good. There’s no better gift you can give yourself than to enter 2019 smoke-free.

The holidays are about living life to its fullest with friends and family. By all means take time to enjoy a few favorite beverages this season. But temper your celebrations with due regard for your implants as well as your overall health. That way, you’ll have even more reasons to be merry this year.

About the Author

Dr. William Way earned his undergraduate degree from Virginia Military institute and his DDS degree from  the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond. He has been practicing dentistry since 1987. You can reach his office online or by calling (804) 288-0948.