Practicing Good Dental Hygiene Daily Keeps Your Teeth Healthy
When you have good dental hygiene practices, you are investing in your dental health and overall health. When you employ good dental hygiene practices, it means more than just going to the dentist. It’s an everyday practice at home. Good dental hygiene every day will help you and your family keep your teeth white and breath fresh. It will go a long way in helping you to prevent cavities and defend against diseases, such as gingivitis.
Dr. Hairston Recommends Good Dental Hygiene for Adults and Kids
Dr. Leah Hairston at Hairston Family Dentistry recommends daily dental hygiene practices for both adults and children. Start your kids out early by helping them brush their teeth, floss, and avoid sugary food and drinks. Adults should continue good dental hygiene to retain their good dental health and overall good health. Good dental hygiene will help you to avoid cavities, losing teeth, or having other dental problems. We’ve put together some good dental hygiene practices for our patients to follow.
Teeth Brushing is One of the Most Important Dental Practices
One of the most important dental hygiene practices is brushing your teeth. You should brush your teeth each morning and night. You should know that you need to brush your teeth at least twice a day. Some people brush their teeth three times a day, but twice should be your goal. Whether you brush your teeth twice or three times a day, brush your teeth in the morning and before you go to bed. When you make a habit of brushing at those times, you will be preventing cavities.
Drinking Lots of Water in the Morning is Good for Your Health
You’ve probably noticed that your mouth is dry when you wake up in the morning. That’s because while you sleep, your mouth dries out and loses its saliva. Did you know saliva helps keep plaque off your teeth? Therefore, you are most likely building up plaque and developing cavities at night. You can also help your dental health and overall health by drinking a glass of water when you awaken.
Don’t Rush When You Brush Your Teeth
You should slow down while you’re brushing your teeth. When you brush too rigorously and don’t pay attention to what you are doing, it can actually damage your gums. When you rush through the brushing, you aren’t properly cleaning your teeth. Dr. Hairston recommends that our patients brush their teeth at least two minutes in a circular motion. If you have an electric tooth brush, there is usually some type of two-minute alarm that alerts you.
Flossing Daily Prevents Tartar from Building Up on Your Teeth
When you floss every day, it prevents tartar from building up around your teeth. Tartar is that hardened yellow plaque that you sometimes see in the corners or the top of your teeth. When tartar builds up on your teeth, your gums can be affected and sustain gingivitis. When you prevent tartar from building up, your teeth will remain white. You might be just flossing around teeth if you have food stuck, but you should floss each tooth. If you have never flossed your teeth, your gums may bleed when you make flossing a regular practice. It will get better, so keep flossing.
Change Your Toothbrush Regularly to Prevent Bacteria Build-Up
You should change your toothbrush regularly. When you use the same toothbrush for too long, it’s like using dirty water to clean your floors. Bacteria start to take over your toothbrush. You’re trying to clean the bacteria out of your mouth, so you need a new toothbrush. You should go to a new toothbrush or toothbrush head when you notice that the bristles are starting to bend. You should buy a toothbrush with soft or medium bristles.
Are You Brushing Your Tongue Regularly?
We all know about brushing our teeth, but you should also brush your tongue. Your bad breath might be the result of bacteria on your tongue. So brushing your tongue gets rid of the bacteria. Use a tongue scraper for the most effective way to clean your tongue. If you aren’t comfortable with using a tongue scraper, you can your toothbrush to gently scrub your tongue. You can brush your tongue while brushing your teeth.
Use Mouthwash to Kill Bacteria and Help Your Bad Breath
Another good dental hygiene practice is using mouthwash daily. We see advertisements for mouthwash that gets rid of bad breath. But mouthwash also kills bacteria and prevents plaque from forming on your teeth. It doesn’t take much swishing around to kill the bacteria in your mouth. Do your research, or ask Dr. Hairston about what mouthwash you should use.
Good Dental Hygiene Doesn’t Take Long
We’re all strapped for time in the morning as we get ready for work or school, but good dental hygiene doesn’t take that long. Continue brushing your teeth twice a day, flossing every day, drinking lots of water, and using mouthwash. When you do these things, your checkups with Hairston Family Dentistry will likely go well.
Give Hairston Family Dentistry a call at (304) 273-5301, or follow us on Facebook. Talk to our team today if you need more information on good dental hygiene practices.