Good oral health is essential in maintaining a healthy set of teeth and gums. There are a lot of ways to keep your teeth healthy. It involves building oral habits such as brushing, flossing, and having regular dental checkups. To keep your oral health in check, you must do more than just the basics of dental hygiene. Studies show that oral health is directly connected to a person’s overall health. Dental issues and infections in the mouth can sometimes cause major diseases.
Without proper hygiene and dental treatment, dental issues may occur and cause infection, pain, and other problems. These issues may lead to more serious problems such as pregnancy complications, malnutrition, speech defects, and even low self-esteem. With the best practices to keep your teeth healthy, these problems can be prevented.
Having healthy teeth takes more than just a simple effort to achieve. It takes a lifetime of regular dental practices and it is important to follow a certain set of rules in order to prevent future dental problems and infections. Here are seven tips to keep your teeth healthy:
1. Brush Your Teeth Regularly
Everybody knows how important it is to brush your teeth regularly to keep them clean, help prevent cavities, and remove plaque. However, most of us don’t realize that brushing requires a certain technique for it to be completely effective.
Learn to brush your teeth in a circular motion in order to reach every corner of the mouth. Make sure that you reach all the surfaces, including the top and gumline, of every tooth. Effective brushing of the teeth takes about 3 minutes. Avoid the simple back and forth motions with your brush as this will not clean your teeth effectively, and will only cause pain in the gums
Brushing too aggressively is not good practice, either. It may cause damage to the teeth and gums, and lead to infection. It may also cause tooth sensitivity and damage to the gums. Dentists recommend using soft-bristled toothbrushes in order to prevent any damage to the teeth and change the toothbrush every three months.
2. Floss Daily
For many people, flossing can be a chore. However, practicing daily flossing is necessary to remove plaque in places between the teeth that a regular toothbrush cannot reach. It also prevents bad breath from occurring by removing excess food trapped between the teeth. The best way to floss is to gently move the floss between the teeth and the gumline. Avoid moving the floss in an up and down motion between each tooth because it will only cause pain and not do the job at all.
3. Avoid Smoking
Not only is smoking harmful to the immune system, it also makes it difficult for mouth tissues to heal and can cause severe gum disease. Because of this, people who smoke are always warned that they may experience a slow dental healing process. It can also affect the color of the lips, teeth, and tongue, and may soon lead to severe bad breath.
4. Avoid Sweet Drinks
In order to have healthy teeth, you must be mindful of what you put inside of your body. Avoid sugary drinks because they contain acid that can cause tooth sensitivity, root canal infections, and tooth loss. In order to have good dental health, it is important that you practice a healthy lifestyle.
5. Drink More Water
Avoiding sweet drinks is not enough to protect your teeth from any future damage and issues. It is also important to drink water, because not only can it get rid of all the excess food in between your teeth, it can also rid your mouth of unwanted bacteria which can cause bad breath and other infections.
6. Avoid Sugary Food
Treats and sweet snacks are the worst enemy of healthy teeth. As much as we love consuming sweet food and desserts, too much sugar can lead to cavity build up and other dental issues. People who watch what they eat and limit their sugar intake to a minimum, experience reduced complications and dental problems.
Aside from sweet snacks, starchy food like bread, chips, and pasta are also factors in developing tooth decay. These foods can be stuck in between teeth and break down into sugar and cause tooth infection. Try to replace sweet and starchy food with healthier alternatives such as fruits and vegetables as snacks.
7. Visit the Dentist
Knowing how to have healthy teeth and following all the best dental practices will not always be enough. Regular dental checkups are also important to maintain good oral health and prevent future diseases. Visit your dentist and fix your dental issues right away.
To maintain good oral health, you must have a trusted professional take care of your mouth, teeth, and gums. Century Dental has the best dentists in St. Pete Beach, FL. With the right dental practices and regular dental appointments, you will surely have a healthy set of teeth you can be proud of. Contact us now!
