Dental health care involves brushing, flossing, and visiting your dentist regularly to keep a healthy mouth and prevent dental disorders. Although you might miss flossing or brushing your teeth during a busy day, preventive maintenance is imperative for a healthy mouth and can help you avoid substantial dental bills.
You want to visit your dentist if you experience or notice any signs of dental disorders. Dentists screen for plaque and cavities, among other severe issues like signs of oral cancer. They may also help you form a habit to help you develop vital dental hygiene.
The following are the primary dental practices you can use to maintain your oral hygiene:
Dental Flossing
Flossing is an imperative oral practice to prevent tooth decay and gum diseases. Many people do not realize the importance of flossing and think brushing their teeth is adequate to remove any sticky substances and plaque between them. Tooth decay is a severe dental problem that results from plaque buildup.
When you leave plaque to build up between your teeth, it may combine with starches or sugar from your food to produce an acid that attacks your enamel. When you brush your teeth, you only remove plaque on the surface of your teeth. Flossing is good dental hygiene because it removes plaque between your teeth.
Plaque can irritate your gums to the point that they become tender and red. When you fail to remove plaque from between your teeth through flossing, your gums can start to recede from your teeth.
Brushing Your Teeth Twice Daily
One main way to keep gums and teeth healthy is through tooth brushing. Brushing your teeth is essential for your health. Ensure you use a toothbrush with soft bristles and strips of fluoride toothpaste.
When brushing the teeth, ensure you move the toothbrush in small motions to reach food particles under the gums. Hold your toothbrush and brush carefully and slowly, covering the surface of your teeth and the areas between your teeth.
Take several minutes to brush all your teeth. Brush your lower and upper teeth. Ensure that you also brush your tongue. To avoid plaque buildup, brush your teeth at least twice a day. When you notice the bristles in your toothbrush starting to wear, replace the toothbrush immediately. Avoid swallowing any toothpaste. Rinse your mouth thoroughly after brushing.
Maintaining a Proper Diet
It is good to maintain a proper diet for good oral health. How and when you consume certain beverages and foods can affect your gums and teeth. For example, sugary foods contribute to tooth decay. Plaque thrives on sugary foods.
When you fail to brush your teeth properly after eating, the bacteria on the plaque use sugary foods that destroy your teeth's enamel. Common foods that contain sugar include bread, fruits, and cereals. You should, however, not remove all foods from your diet.
Eating crunchy vegetables and fruits is not only essential for your general health but also crucial for your teeth. A healthy mouth starts with a healthy body. If your body is equipped with all the required nutrients, it can take care of and send energy to your gums and teeth.
To maintain overall health, ensure you eat a balanced diet that contains a lot of veggies and fruits, protein, and calcium-rich foods. When focusing on a balanced diet, many people make the mistake of incorporating plenty of fruits, which can cause more harm than good. Concentrated juice intake has high levels of acid that can damage your teeth.
Quitting Smoking Tobacco
Smoking is a dangerous and addictive habit that you want to avoid. Statistics indicate that more than 16 million Americans are suffering from smoking-related diseases. The diseases include emphysema, lung cancer, and heart disease.
For your dental health, smoking may result in tooth loss. Again, smokers are at higher risk of developing periodontal diseases. The consequences of tobacco on your lungs are well known, but people think less of the effect on their teeth.
Occasionally or regularly using tobacco can lead to permanent stains on your teeth, or you can even eat your teeth. Even if you do not see the impact of tobacco when you start using it, the use of tobacco will always be a piece of evidence in your teeth at some point in your life. To do away with this, you want to cut tobacco. Even if you take the time to quit smoking and tobacco, it will be an excellent idea for the health of your teeth.
Visiting Your Dentist Regularly
One of the main aspects of oral hygiene is regularly visiting your dentist. Dental experts recommend visiting your dentist every six months for a dental checkup. During the dental checkup, the dentist will remove hardened tartar and plaque. The dentist will also clean your teeth.
The dental expert will check for any signs of mouth cancer, gum diseases, cavities, and other oral problems during the visit. Sometimes the dentist can use an X-ray to check for cavities. According to many dental experts, adolescents and children should visit their dentist every six months to check for cavities.
You can visit your dentist less frequently if you are an adult and practice good dental hygiene. You can speak with your dentist about the best dental care and how frequently you should visit them. The answer varies depending on your medical history, general dental health, and age.
Regularly Using Mouthwash
Certain mouthwashes can be essential for your oral health. For example, a mouthwash containing chlorhexidine helps prevent gingivitis and plaque. According to a meta-analysis, mouthwashes with specific essential oils are good. You can ask our dentist about the best type of mouthwash to use. Remember, mouthwash cannot replace flossing and brushing. It is a complementary practice.
Using Fluoride
Fluoride is derived from fluorine. Many dental experts recommend that fluoride is essential in preventing cavities and is a significant ingredient in mouthwash and toothpaste. Several dental products do not contain fluoride, and several people are not using it.
Dental experts suggest that a lack of fluoride can result in tooth decay even when you take good dental care. Recent research indicated that flossing and brushing alone cannot prevent you from suffering cavities if you do not use fluoride. You can even add fluoride to your water sources. Organizations like the WHO, ADA, and CDC recommend fluoride for better dental health care. Find out whether the water in your area contains fluoride by contacting your local government.
Store Your Toothbrush Properly
When it comes to oral hygiene, how you keep your toothbrush matters. Try to keep your toothbrush upright where it can air dry. It would be best if you did not keep your toothbrush in a container or near other people's toothbrushes. Ensure you replace your toothbrush every three months or earlier before the bristles become uniform.
Brush Your Tongue
Many people brush their teeth but forget to brush their tongues. Your tongue can hold bacteria like a sponge. Whenever you want to brush your teeth, ensure you brush your tongue. If you need to learn how to brush your tongue, you can seek advice from your dentist. The dentist will show you how to brush the tongue and give you its benefits.
Drink More Water
Water is the best beverage for your general oral health. As a rule, you drink water after every meal. Drinking plenty of water after every meal helps wash out acidic foods between your teeth. Speak with your dentist to learn how much water you should drink to boost your oral health. The ADA recommends drinking unsweetened tea or water throughout and only drinking sweetened foods at mealtime in small quantities.
Increase Calcium Intake
The calcium in your body helps you develop strong bones and teeth. Less calcium in your body is dangerous since you can have more sensitive and weak teeth. To prevent this, you want to increase the calcium intake in your body. If you find it challenging to take calcium, you can use calcium supplements. Speak with your dentist to learn how and when to take calcium supplements.
Consult Your Dentist
It is always good to consult your dental expert to ensure your dental routine is proper and best for your current dental status. When you consult the dentist, they may recommend a specific type of toothpaste, toothbrush, or dental routine depending on the health of your gums, teeth, or mouth. So, you must always consult your dentist as you maintain your oral hygiene.
Sealants
The depressions and grooves on the teeth' surface make it difficult to clean off food and bacteria. As the bacteria on your teeth react with food, they break down the teeth' enamel and cause cavities. Recent research in the USA indicates that more than 88 percent of general cavities form this way.
Tooth sealants protect these susceptible surfaces by sealing the depressions and preventing food particles and bacteria from residing on them. Sealant material is a resin applied to the back teeth, premolars, molars, and surfaces prone to cavities. It lasts for many years, but you must visit your dentist for regular checkups.
Tips for Your Kids
Baby teeth are as important as permanent teeth. They help your child speak and chew well. The teeth hold the place for future teeth. When your child loses teeth to decay, it can affect the development of permanent teeth in the future. With that in mind, you want to observe good dental care practices for your child. The following dental practices can help your child keep healthy gums and teeth:
- Wipe your child's gums with a warm cloth daily, even if the child has no teeth. When you do this, you remove sugar from the child's gums and help them feel the feeling of cleaning.
- Ensure your baby does not go to bed with sippy cups or bottles. Juice and milk have sugars that can result when left on the child's teeth for extended periods.
- When your baby approaches 12 months, introduce them to sippy cups. Aim to stop the use of bottles as soon as the child turns one year old.
- When your baby develops teeth, brush them with a soft toothbrush twice daily. Use a small amount of toothpaste, less than a rice grain.
- Brush your child's teeth until they can clean them without your help. Monitor them and ensure they do not swallow the toothpaste.
- Like others, your child should visit a dentist at least twice a year.
- Avoid sharing eating utensils with your child by inserting them in your mouth. The behavior of cavity-causality causes bacteria in the child.
Oral Health and Pregnancy
Pregnant women and mothers have unique considerations when it comes to oral care. Failure to observe dental care could impact both you as the mother and the child. During pregnancy, gums and teeth are more susceptible to bacteria buildup because of the associated increase in hormone levels.
During the second trimester, you want to visit your dentist for oral hygiene checkups and dental cleanings. Infections of the mouth during pregnancy increase the risk of complications. So if you have bleeding gums, a toothache, or pus around your tooth, you want to schedule a dental checkup.
There are dental procedures that you want to avoid when pregnant. They include x-rays and cosmetic and restorative procedures. If you are pregnant and seek dental care, seek dental advice from a well-trained and experienced dentist.
Contact a Dental Expert Near Me
Good oral hygiene from childhood to adulthood can help you maintain healthy teeth and gums. Brushing your teeth, flossing daily, and regularly visiting your dentist can help you avoid gum disease and cavities. You want to speak with an experienced dentist if you have dental issues.
At Northridge Advanced Dentistry, our dentists are determined to work with you. We start by examining your dental issue and providing the best dental advice. If you seek dental services in Northridge, we are here for you. Contact us today at 818-701-3010, and we will help you keep healthy gums and teeth.
