This article looks at general oral health and hygiene maintenance regimens. We provide advice about what you can do at home to ensure your oral health remains in good condition and what your dentist can do to help.
Feeling great about your teeth and subsequently your smile is important not only for your confidence, but it also means that your mouth is happy and healthy. Just like a home needs regular maintenance, your mouth requires and deserves an excellent standard of oral health and hygiene maintenance. In this article, Silver Spring dental experts explain what you can do from home to ensure that your teeth remain not only aesthetically pleasing, but healthy. We also explain how your dentist can aid in your dental care and maintenance.
Oral Health and Hygiene: What Can I Do At Home?
It all starts with you! The best thing that you can do to look after your teeth is to commit to a consistent oral hygiene routine. Here is where to start:
• SPEND: Invest in a good toothbrush and good toothpaste. Seek the advice of your dentist with regard to what kind of toothpaste you should be using for your unique situation. If you have particularly sensitive teeth, you should be using toothpaste specifically designed for your needs. Silver Spring dental experts explain that if you consistently drink coffee or entertain other stain-causing habits, you should use toothpaste with whitening properties.
Going to your dentist for a professional teeth cleaning and whitening procedure will be far more effective, but using whitening toothpaste will definitely help reduce the build-up of tough stains.
• CONSISTENCY: A good oral hygiene routine is based on consistency. Brush, floss, rinse and scrape daily. It is recommended to brush at least twice a day, and if possible, after every meal, as food debris left behind can cause bacterial growth, which may lead to bad breath and other oral health risks. Flossing will help you get to the hard-to-reach spaces in your mouth that brushing alone does not reach. Flossing reaches the little pockets and gaps between your teeth where food debris is often left behind.
Rinsing is also a beneficial step in your oral hygiene regimen. Using an anti-septic mouthwash kills germs that cause bacterial growth and plaque build-up. Many people forget to scrape their tongue during their daily regimen, and the tongue is known to harbor all sorts of bacteria and bits of food. Scraping your tongue will go a long way in ensuring your breath remains minty fresh for much longer, too.
• MAINTENANCE: Go see your dentist! A Silver Spring dentist explains that although your day-to-day oral hygiene routine will do wonders for your oral health, seeing your dentist at least twice a year for general check-ups will ensure that your oral health remains in excellent condition. Also, it ensures that any problems can be dealt with before they develop into a more serious state.
Oral Health and Hygiene: A Final Word
By following the advice provided above, you will help to ensure that your oral health remains in the best possible condition. Your oral health is intricately linked to your general health and vice versa, so you will also be protecting the rest of your body from other health risks.
