Christmas is a time when most of us tend to indulge and enjoy fine foods and a drink or two. While it’s fine to let the diet slip for a few days, we do urge our patients to think of their teeth at this time of year and try to avoid going too crazy with tasty treats that are bad for oral health.

Here are some recommendations of Christmas delicacies that are best to steer clear of or at least, eat in moderation, over the festive period:

Sugared almonds: while almonds have many health benefits, the sugary sweet coating spells problems for the teeth. If you’re a fan of nuts, try to avoid any sugar-coated or chocolate-covered versions and stick to plain, unsalted and unsweetened nuts.

Chewy sweets: most people have tubs of chocolates and sweets lying around at Christmas time and it can be difficult to resist the temptation of shiny wrappers and delicious smells. By all means treat yourself to a few chocolates, but try to avoid chewy toffees and sweets and hard boiled sweets, as these tend to get trapped in the teeth and there is a risk of damage; the last thing you want is to be calling an emergency dentist because of a humbug, so take extra care.

Christmas pudding: Christmas pudding is a staple, but it can be chewy and it contains a lot of sugar, so try to stick to smaller portions and take care when chewing raisins and dates, as the seeds can sometimes be surprisingly hard.

Wine, alcopops and fizzy pop: drinks are often as harmful as foods when it comes to oral health, especially at Christmas time, when people tend to let loose with alcohol and fizzy drinks. Try to go for sugar-free mixers and dilute wine; it’s also a really good idea to drink a glass of water after every alcoholic drink to neutralise acids in your mouth and also to reduce the risk of a horrible hangover the next day.

In addition to taking care with what you eat, we also recommend avoiding snacking and grazing and waiting one hour after eating to brush your teeth; this will give your enamel time to recover after eating.