Nobody wants to lose their teeth. In an ideal world, everybody would have a grin full of pearly whites, all of which were perfectly healthy and never required any sort of dental surgery. This isn’t an ideal world, however, and too many people are going through their days without performing the actions that would leave their teeth in the best shape. Dental hygiene is incredibly important for a number of reasons, and here at Smile On Dental Salon & Sleep Apnea Center in Chicago, IL, we recommend the following tips to ensure the best care for your teeth.
#1 Practice Proper Brushing Technique
Just because you brush your teeth every night doesn’t mean you’re brushing your teeth correctly. Many people are too brief in their brushing time, which isn’t enough to rid your mouth of leftover food particles, nor is it enough to properly polish your teeth. To make better use of your brushing efforts, hold your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle to your gums and use short strokes across the front and sides of your teeth, making sure to focus on the back teeth where most food hides. Two minutes is the ideal time for brushing, so consider setting a timer as you adjust to how long you should be brushing.
#2 Don’t Forget to Floss
A lot of our patients swear they brush twice a day but never can find the time to floss. Flossing, however, is key to healthy gums, which explains why people who don’t floss can see their gums grow irritated and perhaps even bleed on the rare occasions they do floss. Get in there and remove those food particles to keep your gums healthy and to keep built-up food and plaque out the natural gaps in your smile.
#3 Be Careful What (And When) You Eat and Drink
Soda and alcohol and wreak havoc on your teeth, so cutting down on both of these beverages could help keep your teeth healthier longer. Furthermore, snacking late at night after you’ve brushed your teeth for the last time is counterproductive, as you want those food particles away from teeth before you fall asleep. Consider brushing one last time after you’ve finished eating if you need to.
#4 Visit Your Dentist Regularly
For deep cleanings, you should be visiting your dentist every six months. Even if you brush every day, avoiding the dentist over long periods of time can cause big problems for your dental hygiene. Furthermore, small issues can turn nasty if left alone for too long. Here at Smile On Dental Salon, we want to make sure your teeth stay healthy and clean, and our hygienists and dentists are well-trained to ensure that’s exactly what happens when you come in for a visit.
In doing all of these things, you can ensure that your smile stays healthy and lasts much longer. Hold onto that beautiful smile of yours by practicing proper dental hygiene. At the same time, know that doing so will keep you away from fillings and root canals and tooth extractions. A better smile and fewer emergency dentist visits should be more than enough motivation to maintain proper dental hygiene.
