Free Tips
To maintain healthy gums and teeth, you need to practice
correct oral hygiene methods at home and also visit your dentist regularly
for professional maintenance.
There are a number of tooth brushes available on the
market: the manual tooth brush with a flexible head; angle bristles for
braces; softest bristles for dentures; battery operated tooth brushes to the
almighty electric tooth brush.
The target areas are primarily the teeth and the other
(often forgotten area) the gum area. Start and move systematically from one
part of the mouth to another aiming the bristles of the brush at a 45 degree
angle toward the gum. What we recommend is: cheek sides of teeth -top right
then top left, move to bottom left to bottom right; then onto the insides of
the teeth - top right, top left, bottom left and bottom right finishing off
with the biting parts of teeth. This should take about 2-3 minutes. With an
electric tooth brush, the brush does everything for you, all you need to do
is hold it over EACH tooth for 2 seconds (do not forget the outside
AND insides of the teeth, finally with the biting surfaces).
Flossing is the best thing to clean in between the
teeth. This should be shown to you. There are other products that can clean
in between the teeth and is dependent on how you are currently managing your
teeth.
We cannot forget that diet plays an important role as
well, along with our lifestyle and profession. Sugar is a main contributor
to the decay process. So, small amounts are better than large quantities and
one episode is better than several, during the day.
Those that lead an active sporting lifestyle will
generally be a little dehydrated. If this is you, you should ensure that
enough liquids are taken to replace lost fluids. Sports drinks are great for
doing this but must be taken in a controlled manner. This is due to the
acidic nature of these drinks. Frequent attacks from the acidic nature of
these drinks will cause erosion of the teeth and sensitivity of the teeth
will ensue, therefore water is better.
Also, the medication that some people are taking can
have an adverse effect one's dental health as this may change the normal
balance of bacteria in the mouth. It is important that a complete and
through medical history is taken and that a list of all medication (herbal
to prescription) is given to enable us to determine if there are any
untoward effects to the oral condition.
A healthy, well balanced diet along with good oral
hygiene practices should ensure you keep your teeth for life.
