You’ve only got one smile, so it’s important you look after it properly.
Practicing good dental healthcare is essential for a fresh, clean, healthy mouth, and is just as important as keeping your skin and hair in good condition.
By taking care of your teeth and gums correctly at home, and regularly visiting a professional dentist, you can avoid expensive and uncomfortable dental procedures such as fillings and root canals. Preventative dental care protects and strengthens your teeth, reducing the risk of tooth and gum disease and making your oral health easier to maintain.
Today we’ll look at how you can practice better oral hygiene at home for strong, healthy teeth for life.
Brush Your Teeth Twice a Day
Brushing your teeth is the most essential part of your preventative dental care.
Why is it so important?
Brushing, or cleaning, teeth and gums is an effective way to remove bacteria from your mouth. These bacteria live in your mouth, forming plaque – a harmful, sticky substance that coats teeth and irritates gums, leaving them sore and red and can cause bleeding.
The bacteria in plaque is responsible for causing:
tooth decay and cavities
gingivitis, which can lead to gum (periodontal) disease.
bad breath
By brushing and cleaning your teeth and gums daily, preferably twice a day, you’ll remove a significant amount of bacteria and plaque. Your mouth will look, feel and smell clean and fresh.
Floss, Floss, Floss
We know you’ve probably heard it before, but flossing is really is an important step in your daily routine for proper oral hygiene and preventative dental care. It provides a thorough clean between teeth, where your toothbrush might not be able to reach, and is essential for preventing gum disease.
Your dentist can provide you with expert advice on how best to floss at home, as well as which type of dental floss will be best for you. But basically, you’ll want to follow these steps to ensure you’re flossing properly.
Hold a long section of dental floss tightly between your fingers
Gently guide the dental floss between 2 teeth
Very importantly, when the floss gets to your gum line, you want to bend it along the curve of your tooth, following the natural line between gum and tooth
Floss along this curved line, sliding the floss along the side of the tooth, rather than up and down into your gum
Bring the dental floss back, before moving up into the curve along the next tooth
Repeat for each tooth
While this may sound like a lengthy process at first, you’ll soon be handling dental floss like a pro, with flossing just another simple step in your daily routine.
Schedule Routine Dental Check Ups
As well as taking positive steps to practice good oral health and hygiene at home, you should schedule a routine dental examination every 6 months with a professional dentist. Having your teeth professionally cleaned by your dentist can remove bacteria and plaque that has formed in hard to reach places, ensuring a clean and fresh mouth.
At Adelaide’s City Central Dental, you’ll receive oral hygiene instructions and patient education as part of your routine check-up to ensure that you have all the right tools to keep your mouth as healthy as possible between appointments. Book in for a check-up or professional clean, and start working on achieving a strong, healthy smile for life.
