6 Tips For Great Oral Health

A pearly white smile is one of the biggest confidence boosters for any individual. Contrary to popular belief, brushing your teeth is important, but not the only requirement for healthy teeth. You must follow several requirements and tips hand-in-hand to help you achieve the perfect smile. 

Brush twice a day 

If you must follow an oral health requirement consistently throughout your life, it is that of brushing your teeth twice a day. In the morning, brushing your teeth is crucial for removing all the plaque that forms when bacteria react with saliva to produce acid during sleep. If plaque is not removed, it calcifies and forms tartar, which leads to gum disease and bad breath.

At night, brushing is necessary to reduce the number of food particles and bacteria that may have culminated in your mouth throughout the day. Hence, brushing regularly before bed and in the morning after waking up shall provide optimal dental health, free from diseases, cavities, and stale breath.

Have regular dental checkups

Even if you take all the necessary steps to ensure good oral hygiene, unexpected problems may still arise. Furthermore, you can’t identify all dental issues without a professional examination, which is why regular dental checkups are very important. These checkups should generally be done twice a year and include a mouth examination by a board-certified dentist to identify any pressing concerns, followed by scaling and polishing teeth, which is necessary for removing stubborn plaque and tartar deposits. You can look up an oral and maxillofacial surgery clinic near me online and get the best service. Suppose you have a history of dental problems. In that case, your dental insurance company may also cover your regular dental checkups.

If you don’t have a dentist yet or you’re having a hard time finding one, you can rely on the power of the internet. You can search for a term like “dentist near me kiln creek” and it should pull up a list of dental experts that you can check out. Remember to read their reviews too!

Adopt the right brushing techniques

Did you know there’s a right and wrong way of brushing your teeth too? The correct method of brushing teeth is using a gentle hand and going in circular motions. Being too vigorous or harsh during brushing is unnecessary and can damage your teeth. Hence, keep a gentle hand and let enamel, the natural protective coating of your teeth, do its job.

The duration of brushing your teeth must be 2 minutes at the least, but no longer than 4 minutes in total. That is because brushing for too long can cause enamel to chip away, exposing a layer of dentin connected to nerve endings. That can result in severe toothache, which leads to many sleepless nights. Hence, over-brushing has the opposite effect of the one you wish to achieve.

Another crucial step to add to your daily dental routine is brushing your tongue. Many fail to realize that plaque exists not only on and between our teeth but also on our tongues. When the tongue is not brushed, plaque residing on it is not timely removed, causing bad breath. So do not leave out brushing your tongue if you want your fresher pearly whites to be accompanied by fresher breath.

Make dietary changes

The diet you consume affects way more than just the internal workings of your body. When it comes to oral health, consuming high-fiber foods that are chewy and crunchy is highly beneficial. By eating more vegetables and fruits, preferably fresh instead of cooked, you put your jaws to work, which helps them function better.

However, adding crunchy foods to your diet alone is not enough, and it must be accompanied by cutting down on sugary and acidic foods. Sugar turns into acid in the mouth when it comes in contact with saliva. This acid causes tooth erosion, whereby the enamel that protects your teeth starts wearing off, making them susceptible to cavities. Hence, you should reduce your intake of foods with high sugar and acid content, if not completely avoid them.

Another dietary change for the betterment of oral health is drinking more water. Water, when consumed, carries extra food particles in your mouth away with it. Doing so reduces the amount of plaque produced. Drinking more water and eating fresh foods while avoiding sugary and processed ones will significantly improve your oral and dental health. 

Accompany brushing with flossing and mouthwash

The act of brushing your teeth is, unfortunately, not all that is needed for a beautiful smile and the oral hygiene results you are looking for. That is where flossing and the use of mouthwash come to play. Flossing is using dental floss to clean plaque or food particles that may be stuck between teeth. In fact, flossing does about 40% of the total work needed to remove germs and plaque from your teeth.

However, the benefits of flossing are not just that. Flossing has been proven to stimulate the gums, creating greater blood flow while lowering inflammation. These benefits speak for themselves, but many people still refrain from incorporating flossing into their daily routine as they find using dental floss a hassle.

An easy solution is using ready-to-use dental flossers, which are convenient, easily available, and get the job done just right. Adding flossing to your oral hygiene routine does not mean that mouthwash can be skipped, as the two provide completely different benefits. Mouthwash provides all-around 360-degree cleaning to your mouth, reaching areas that brushing and flossing fail to. In addition to this, most mouthwashes contain Fluoride, which not only provides protection from cavities but also reduces sensitivity. In the long run, flossing and mouthwash help optimize oral health, making them a necessary part of your daily routine.

Use a fluoride toothpaste

Last but certainly not least is being mindful about which toothpaste to use. Today’s market is full of different products, and everyone is bound to find something fit for them. Toothpaste can generally be divided into Fluoride and non-fluoride toothpaste. Despite being a controversial substance,

Fluoride offers many benefits for dental hygiene. It protects teeth against decay by strengthening enamel. It also protects them from demineralization, which occurs when acid erodes teeth while aiding in remineralization, which brings calcium and phosphate ions to teeth to create a new surface area that is acid resistant. Hence, the best toothpaste to use is one that contains Fluoride.

When choosing the right fluoride toothpaste, look for one with a fluoride level of 1,350-1,500 ppm and the American Dental Association’s seal of approval. Personal preferences such as whitening teeth, mitigating tooth sensitivity, or opting for a flavor of your choice should also be considered. Finally, always look at the ingredient list before purchasing any toothpaste to ensure the product does not contain any ingredient that would cause an allergic reaction.

Conclusion

Having good oral and dental hygiene is not just dependent on the act of brushing your teeth. Instead, it is the combined effect of all the tips mentioned above and methods that produces beneficial results. So, incorporate these tips into your daily dental and oral hygiene routine for a squeaky-clean smile and a boost of self-confidence!