Maintaining your dental health is important for more reasons than you might think. Nobody wants the pain associated with cavities and infection, but poor dental health affects not only your mouth, but the health of your entire body. Here are five suggestions from Dental Designs of Salt Lake City, Utah for maintaining good dental hygiene.
Brush. The first and most fundamental rule for sound dental health is to brush your teeth. Minimally, you should brush twice a day, morning and night; but optimally, you should brush three times a day. When you purchase a toothbrush and toothpaste, look for the ADA (American Dental Association) stamp. The ADA has certain standards that assure minimum quality for dental products. By choosing ADA approved dental products, you can be assured that you are getting the quality your teeth require. When you brush your teeth, visualize every surface of your teeth, top and bottom, including the nooks and crevices and your gums. Brush in a gentle, circular motion, moving slowly across all of the surfaces and crevices you visualize to ensure that your brushing action is reaching and thoroughly cleaning all the surfaces and nooks and crannies in and around your teeth where bacteria exist.
Floss. After brushing, the most important habit for maintaining the best dental health is flossing. While you may brush thoroughly and regularly, nothing beats flossing for removing plaque and other remaining bacteria that lingers on your teeth, in between your teeth, or on your gums. Also, flossing helps prevent gum diseases, which if unchecked can lead to much more serious health issues. To help you floss more thoroughly, look for floss that has a waxed coating. This helps the floss move through your teeth more easily. Floss every day.
Mouth Rinsing. The third rule for great dental health is to rinse out your mouth with either water or mouthwash after meals when you can’t brush. Swishing or gargling water or mouthwash after meals helps to remove food debris and other bacteria that is likely to remain after the meal. Food debris and bacteria cause an acid to form on your teeth that causes plaque and eats away at enamel. If plaque is not removed it can turn to tartar. Once plaque has turned to tartar only a dentist can get it off. The rinsing action minimizes the build up of plaque in your mouth.
Fluoride. The fourth rule for maintaining good dental health is to rinse your mouth with mouthwash that contains fluoride. Fluoride strengthens the enamel on your teeth, and the harder the enamel on your teeth is, the tougher it is for plaque to stick and for acid to eat through it.
Dental Check-up. The fifth rule for great dental health is to see your dentist on a regular basis. Usually dentists like you to come in every 6 months for a cleaning. Going to the dentist every six months is important for your dental health because they will do a detailed check up of all your teeth. Your dentist will also clean off any tartar build up that has occurred. Getting all of the tartar off of your teeth is crucial for avoiding gum disease.
To learn more about dental hygeine, contact Dental Designs of Salt Lake City or Call us at 801-355-2202.
Duke Dental 