Why Bother with Dental Hygiene?
Dental hygiene is an essential dental job to keeping your whole mouth healthy. You can avoid a huge number of problems (and trips to the dentist) just by keeping your teeth clean. The most obvious benefits are that your teeth will look clean and your breath will smell fresh, but there are more significant benefits to brushing and flossing daily than this. A build up of plaque, which is the bacteria that forms on your teeth after every time you eat, can cause numerous problems such as tooth decay, gum disease and gingivitis and require you to visit the dentist. Brushing your teeth and gums will give you healthy, pink gums, whereas a failure to do so will make your gums red, sore and bleeding and cause foul breath. You should also be aware of yellow or brown deposits on your teeth (tartar) and an increase in cavities, among many other complaints. If you hate having work done at the dentist’s, keep you teeth clean!
How Can I Maintain Good Dental Hygiene?
Any dentists in London you visit will be able to give you personal advice on your dental health, such as which products are best for you. However, it is not as if you need to go on a dental course to learn the ins and outs of caring for your teeth and gums:
- Brush your teeth at least twice a day, and especially before you go to bed.
- Floss regularly – some bleeding is normal with flossing so don’t panic.
- Use an antiseptic mouthwash after brushing/flossing to kill bacteria.
- Use a fluoride based toothpaste to strengthen your teeth (though only very small amounts of this should be given to infants).
- Go for regular check-ups at the dentist and get a professional clean.
- Eat teeth friendly food, which means avoiding food and drink with a high sugar or starch content and eating more fruit and veg with a high water content, along with meat, fish, cheese and milk.
Filed under: dentists on April 15th, 2010