You cannot undermine dental hygiene. It is imperative to maintain the healthiness of gums and teeth. Without the necessary care, gum problems, dental decay, and other complications may arise, leading to speech problems, pain, and diminished self-confidence.

According to experts, oral health problems contribute to worldwide health burdens and must be addressed accordingly. Maintaining oral hygiene and the cleanliness and healthiness of your teeth is an achievable practice. This blog discusses the tips that can help you achieve this.

Regular Teeth Brushing

Brushing teeth daily is among the most important tips for maintaining healthy, clean teeth and proper dental hygiene. It helps remove bacteria and plaque. Ensure you brush twice daily, but avoid brushing aggressively. If you brush too hard, you may injure your gums and enamel.

Many people know that brushing teeth twice daily is essential for eliminating bacteria and plaque and keeping the teeth clean. Nevertheless, brushing will only yield results if you use the proper technique. Consider using brushes with soft bristles, and brush gently in circular motions and short back-and-forth strokes.

While at it, brush every tooth's top, back, and front. Using a toothbrush with hard bristles could damage your gums and tooth enamel. The likely impacts of this might include permanent tooth enamel damage, gum erosion, and tooth sensitivity.

Also, be gentle while brushing around the gum line. The brushing process should take approximately two to three minutes. Avoid sawing forth-and-back motions. The ADA (American Dental Association) recommends replacing your toothbrush every three to four months or whenever the ends begin looking frayed, whichever is first.

Cleaning Your Tongue

When brushing your teeth, ensure you do not leave out your tongue since plaque can accumulate there too. There are various methods you can use to clean your tongue. You could use a spoon or tongue scraper to clean the tongue.

Alternatively, you could use the back of your toothbrush if the toothbrush has a scraping edge to brush the tongue lightly. Like brushing your teeth, brushing your tongue should also take about two to three minutes.

Flossing

Floss once daily to maintain good oral hygiene. Flossing eliminates bacteria and plaque between teeth, an area you cannot access with a toothbrush. Flossing is as critical as brushing. It removes the food debris and plaque stuck between teeth that a toothbrush cannot reach, lowering inflammation, stimulating the gum, and preventing foul breath.

To use dental floss, gently push it downward to the gum line. Hug the sides of your tooth using the floss, then move the floss upward and downward. Do not snap the floss upward and downward between teeth. Doing so will not effectively eliminate plaque and food particles and can lead to pain. Apart from dental floss, you can also use a water flosser, pre-threaded flosser, or similar product. Ensure you rinse your mouth with water after flossing.

People with arthritis or other illnesses that restrict hand motion might find it challenging to hold and use a dental floss or toothbrush. The following tips can assist in making flossing and brushing more manageable:

  • Using a floss holder if you have difficulty flossing
  • Attaching the toothbrush handle to your hand using a wide elastic band
  • Buying a large-handled toothbrush
  • Using a battery-operated or electric toothbrush

See your dental professional if flossing or brushing causes your gums to bleed or injures your mouth. The dentist can provide you with the best tips for maintaining dental health.

Dental health is equally essential for older adults with Alzheimer's or related dementia. These people usually need assistance caring for their gums, teeth, and mouth. If you have a person at home who has Alzheimer's or a related condition, your dentist can provide dental health care tips for them.

Using Mouthwash

Mouthwash is also ideal for maintaining proper oral hygiene. It assists in promoting your oral hygiene by reducing the level of mouth acid, remineralizing teeth, and cleaning areas inaccessible through flossing or brushing. Mouthwash complements flossing and brushing and has active ingredients that maintain dental hygiene. Brushing merely cleans teeth, constituting approximately 25 percent of the mouth. Mouthwash, however, cleans the entire mouth and tackles germs below and around the gumline for ultimate protection and cleanliness.

When using mouthwash, first determine the correct quantity. Then, pour the mouthwash into the mouth and vigorously rinse the teeth with it. Gargle for a minimum of thirty seconds and then spit it out. Always check the instructions the manufacturer has indicated on the product's label to establish how to utilize mouthwash.

Using Fluoride-Based Products

Fluoride is made from fluorine. It assists in preventing cavities and is a prevalent component in mouthwash and toothpaste. However, some toothpaste and mouthwash do not contain fluoride, and some individuals do not utilize it. Consequently, you should assess whether you should use fluoride products to maintain proper oral hygiene.

According to the available evidence, an absence of fluoride may result in tooth decay and cavities, even if someone cares for their teeth otherwise. Reviews have found that flossing and brushing do not stop an individual from developing cavities if they never use fluoride.

Essentially, fluoride fights germs and provides a protective barrier to teeth. Brushing twice daily with fluoride toothpaste will help promote dental hygiene and keep teeth clean and healthy. Based on your dental health concerns, ask your dental professional whether you should buy a fluoride mouthwash or choose other options.

Many American communities have added fluoride to their water supply. Many organizations, like the ADA, CDC, and WHO, support this practice. You can contact your local government to find out if the water in your area has fluoride. Reverse osmosis water filters eliminate fluoride, and if you use water from a well, you want to determine the fluoride amounts in the water to determine the amount present. Most bottled waters do not have fluoride.

Watching What You Eat

Your diet significantly contributes to your dental hygiene and assists you in keeping your gums and teeth healthy. Ensure your diet contains plenty of fruits, vegetables, and proteins. However, tone down on eating foods high in sugar, starch, and fat. Consuming sugar may result in cavities. Avoid eating a lot of candy, biscuits, sugary desserts, and processed foods containing added sugar.

Also, watch whatever you drink. Sugary beverages will eventually harm your gums and teeth. Drinks rich in sugar, such as sodas and juices, can result in dental caries. They may also have high acid levels, resulting in tooth erosion. Also, avoid colored foods and drinks for proper dental and oral hygiene. Colored foods and beverages affect the teeth's color, making them feel and look unattractive and unhealthy.

WHO recommends limiting sugar intake to less than 10% of their everyday calories. Other studies have found that reducing this intake to 5% would lower the likelihood of decay and other oral issues. Professionals have also provided that carbohydrates like bread, chips, pasta, and crackers can result in tooth cavities. The ADA explains that these foods remain in the mouth and disintegrate into sugars that acid-generating bacteria feed on. The acids can lead to tooth cavities.

Rather than carbohydrates, the ADA recommends eating plenty of vegetables and fruits rich in fiber and dairy products with no added sugar. Instead of sugar-rich beverages, the ADA recommends drinking unsweetened tea or water throughout the day and only consuming sugar-sweetened drinks at meal times and in small quantities.

Quitting Smoking

Smoking compromises the body's general immune system, making it challenging to heal tissue, including mouth tissue. Smoking also impacts oral hygiene. Therefore, you should avoid cigarettes or tobacco to maintain the healthiness of your teeth and gums.

Per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), smoking leads to gum disease. That is because bacteria on teeth move to inhabit beneath the gum, causing the disease. The ADA, on the other hand, warns that persons who smoke might experience slow recovery after undergoing dental treatment.

Smoking also increases tartar and plaque levels if the germs from the smoke stay on teeth for an extended period. This leads to yellowing of the tongue and teeth, making them feel and look unfreshened and unhealthy. Smoking can also give the breath a foul odor.

Seeing a Dentist Routinely

Do not miss your routine checkups with your dentist to maintain proper dental hygiene, and seek professional advice and input. At a routine checkup, a dental hygienist conducts a professional deep teeth cleaning to remove plaque and tartar.

A dentist also assesses and diagnoses any problem that requires early intervention before it worsens. They will check for noticeable signs of mouth cancer, gum disease, cavities, and other oral health problems. They may, at times, also utilize dental X-ray images to check for tooth decay.

Dentists recommend scheduling dental visits every six months to help prevent tooth decay. This is especially the case for adolescents and children. If you are a grownup who practices proper oral hygiene daily and faces a lower risk of dental health problems, you might be able to visit the dentist less frequently. Speak to your dentist regarding how regularly you require a check-up. The answer to this might vary based on your health history, general oral health, and age.

Do not postpone or delay your scheduled dental visits. Proper oral hygiene with routine professional checkups is the only way to avoid gum problems and tooth decay and maintain the freshness and healthiness you seek. However, if you notice changes in your mouth, you should see a dentist.

Tips for Children

A child's primary teeth, known as baby or milk teeth, are as essential as permanent teeth. These teeth assist a child in chewing and speaking. They hold the space for the coming permanent teeth. Should a child lose their milk tooth to cavities, it can disturb the preserved space, making it challenging for the permanent tooth to grow correctly. Knowing this, you want to introduce proper oral care for a child during infancy. These practices will assist you in keeping your child's gums and teeth healthy and clean.

  • Toddlers and babies should not retire with sippy cups or bottles. Juice and milk contain sugars that could cause tooth cavities if they stay on teeth for prolonged periods.
  • Wipe the baby's gums daily using a wet, warm washcloth, even if any teeth are yet to sprout. Doing so eliminates the sugars lodged in the gums. It can also assist the baby in becoming conversant with the idea or feeling of teeth cleaning.
  • Permit toddlers to sip water from sippy cups between meals. However, save juice and milk for meal times only.
  • As the baby approaches one year old, start training them to use a sippy cup. Strive to cease using baby bottles by the time they turn one year.
  • Once the baby grows teeth, brush those twice daily using a soft-bristled baby brush. Use a small quantity of fluoride-based toothpaste, not bigger than a grain of rice. Minors three to six years old might utilize a toothpaste amount that is the size of a pea.
  • You should brush your baby's teeth until they have learned to brush all their teeth properly with no help. Observe them to ensure they do not swallow the toothpaste.
  • Store the toothpaste far from the reach of the children when not using it.
  • Do not share utensils with your baby or clean their pacifiers by placing them in your mouth. Doing these can pass your tooth decay-causing bacteria onto the child.
  • The ADA recommends that babies see a dental professional within six months of sprouting their first milk tooth or at one year, whichever is first.

Find a Professional General Dentist Near Me

Practicing proper oral care from a young age to adulthood will help you keep your gums and teeth healthy and clean. Flossing and brushing daily, avoiding smoking, and eating healthy will help you achieve an attractive smile. Routine dental checkups are the most important. Apart from attaining a beautiful smile, these checkups will also help you avoid gum diseases, cavities, and other dental problems.

If you wish to learn more tips for keeping your teeth clean and healthy, we at La Puente Advanced Dentistry will gladly provide them. We have helped individuals and families in La Puentee and beyond achieve optimum oral health, and we will not leave you behind. Call 626-626-7075 to talk to us.