This Thanksgiving, as you sit among family and friends and pass dish after dish of delicious food, be sure to take an extra pause while holding the cranberries.

It might just save your teeth from the onslaught that they are about to endure.

New research by a team from Rochester Medical Center has shown that cranberry, and even the wine consumed along with the traditional Thanksgiving meal, can help to defend again the harmful bacteria that cause tooth decay.

The bacteria already reside in the mouth, but when presented with the huge amounts of carbohydrates and simple sugars consumed around the holiday table, the teeth and gums are at a substantially increased risk of decay.

As the bacteria feed on the same foods that you enjoy, they release acid, which eat away at tooth enamel and soft tissue in the mouth.

Dr. Hyan Koo and his team have found that compounds naturally existing within the cranberry are able to make particular forms of bad bacteria, such as the Streptococcus Mutans, vulnerable by clocking the production of certain enzymes.

Work is now being done to isolate the particular compounds at play.

Similarly, Koo is involved in a project that has discovered that the waste created in the production of wine can also fight the S. Mutans.

The hope is that tooth decay may meet a formidable opponent in the very near future. Acid production responsible for cavities, gum disease, and a host of other oral dilemmas could possibly be thwarted.

Just make sure the cranberries aren’t covered in sugar like most cranberry sauce recipes.

To read more about Koo’s collaborations with Dr. Nicholi Vorsa and Dr. Padilla-Zakour, check out the full article.