If Christmas Day eating proves dentally challenging, you will have to wait until Boxing Day for emergency treatment in Dunedin.
Most years there is a dentist on call for Christmas Day, but this year co-ordinator of emergency dental services in the city John Heenan said he was unable to find anyone willing to work the day.
However, there would be someone on call for Boxing Day and those dentists working over the break expected to have a "very busy day" next Monday.
He joked that those with ageing fillings which might be a bit iffy could find it safest to stick to mushy food such as the stuffing in the Christmas turkey.
And what about sticky toffees? If you must have them, "suck them - that's the secret".
Mr Heenan said the most common thing which happened to people at Christmas was that they broke old fillings or the fragile pieces of teeth around them.
The other possibility was that a tooth problem which had been niggling for three weeks and been ignored would develop to the point where it had to be addressed.
Any emergency dental trip might cause financial pain.
Mr Heenan said a cost of $200 for an emergency visit was "not out of the way".
The best way to avoid such unplanned expenses was for people to ensure they had regular preventive maintenance on their teeth at least once a year.
Often, people tended to put this off for financial reasons, but it could turn out to be a false economy.
People faced with toothache on Christmas Day could try the old remedy of putting oil of cloves in the cavity, which would give some relief.
They could seek advice from the Dunedin Hospital emergency department about pain killers if necessary.
The emergency dentist number is (03) 477-7230 - especially chosen for its last three digits (tooth hurty).
This is the number which should also be used in the event of accidents involving teeth.
