Great oral hygiene is what it takes to have a perfect smile. That’s why keeping your teeth and gums perfectly healthy is always recommended. You can keep your teeth healthy by brushing them at least twice a day and having regular dental appointments. However, it’s not just about that perfect smile. Your oral health can also be equivalent to your general health.
Without treatment, bad oral hygiene can lead to more severe health problems like malnutrition, speech problems, infections, etc. Luckily, a simple dental check can tell us what’s wrong with our teeth. With that in mind, here are some simple tips on properly maintaining your teeth.
Visit Your Dentist
One way to know how to maintain your teeth properly is to ask your dentist how. This is especially true if you have a condition where your teeth need to be brushed in a specific way. Thankfully, there are a lot of dental clinics nowadays. Whether in New York or Illinois, you can visit a dental clinic anytime.
It’s pretty much the same anywhere, be it Canada, England, or Australia. Australia has a lot of dental clinics you can visit anytime. Some are even open on the weekend. Clinics like Skygate Dental are open on Sundays, as dental health is essential for everyone, whether it’s on weekdays or the weekends.
Wait Before Your Brush
Do you like fruit juices? This might come as bad news for you but don’t worry; it’s not that serious. If you often finish your meal with fruit juice, especially orange, pineapple, or any citrus fruit juice, you might want to hold on from brushing your teeth for a while. Why? This is because food or drinks with a low pH, or acidic foods, can temporarily soften your tooth’s enamel. If you follow it up with brushing, the action alone can erode the enamel of your teeth.
Also, prolonged exposure due to eroded enamel can make your teeth susceptible to decay over time. We’re not saying that you shouldn’t brush after drinking juice or food with low pH or not to drink or eat them; we’re just simply saying that you should wait to brush your teeth for a while.
Switch to a Soft-Bristled Brush
You might already know that you should change your toothbrush every two to three months. A lot of experts recommend that, after all. However, if you’re using a hard-bristled toothbrush, you should change it immediately. Medium or hard-bristled toothbrushes may feel like they clean your teeth much more efficiently or feel satisfying, but they can cause damage to your teeth over time.
They are abrasive to your teeth and may erode some of your enamel, even when you don’t eat or drink foods with low pH. Most people are perfectly fine with a soft-bristled toothbrush. However, it’s also not recommended to brush your teeth vigorously. Instead, put in a gentle amount of pressure and follow the recommended steps for properly brushing your teeth.
Do the Floss
No, we’re not talking about the zoomer dance. We’re talking about flossing your teeth. One of the most common reasons why people don’t like to floss is because it feels very uncomfortable, not to mention that it’s time-consuming.
However, you must remember that brushing alone can leave 40% of your teeth untouched, meaning your toothbrush leaves many areas when brushing. Through flossing, you can clean most of the area your toothbrush can’t reach. It’s generally recommended to floss at least once a day.
Add Mouthwash and Gum to Your Routine
If you’re brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing regularly, you may think that’s good enough. Newsflash; it’s not. It doesn’t do much about the bacteria inside your mouth. So how do you clean your teeth and oral cavities much more efficiently? One thing you can do is incorporate mouthwash into your daily oral hygiene routine.
There are a lot of brands out there, and the only thing you have to do is to swish your mouth with mouthwash for at least 30 seconds every after you brush and floss. One thing you can also do is chew sugar-free gum. Sugar-free gum can greatly reduce the bacteria in your mouth by stimulating salivary flow. In addition, this can give your teeth a much-needed bath with calcium and phosphate ions, which helps greatly replenish your teeth’s enamel.
Limit Sugary Drinks
This might be bad news for you if you like sipping sugary drinks like juice, soda, or coffee. While it’s generally recommended to limit your sugar intake by not sipping sugary drinks daily, if you can’t help it, you can at least sip them all at once rather than keep on drinking for the rest of the day.
When you constantly expose your teeth to sugar, specific types of bacteria often feed off the sugar on your teeth. These bacteria then produce lactic acid. Lactic acid will dissolve the minerals of your teeth, which accelerate corrosion and damage.
Final Words
Properly maintaining your oral hygiene, especially your teeth, is necessary if you want your perfect smile to remain healthy. You can do this by following the tips we discussed above. Also, don’t forget to visit your dentist regularly to make sure everything is fine in your mouth. Stay smiling, people.