Whether or not you get cavities on a regular basis, improving your dental hygiene is key to avoiding issues like tooth decay and gum disease both now and in the future. Your oral health is only as good as your habits, and establishing good habits early makes it easy to keep it up for many years to come.
Get an Electric Toothbrush
While it may seem like the marketing and branding hype around the latest electric toothbrush makes the benefits seem too good to be true, electric toothbrushes are actually an effective and helpful tool. Good electric brushes help remove more particles and make brushing a simpler task, simply guiding the rotating or vibrating head around the mouth rather than doing the scrubbing yourself.
Plus, most electric toothbrushes come with a two-minute timer to ensure you know exactly how long you need to brush, and some even connect to smartphone apps to track your habits and reward you for a healthy routine.
Get a Spare Toothbrush for Work
You’ll never know when the boss caters lunch that sticks in your teeth for hours, which is why it’s a good idea to have a dedicated toothbrush to keep at work. If you know you need to be more diligent about brushing, this allows you to have a convenient way to clean your teeth after lunch. Just be sure to store it in a clean location with a cap on to prevent dust and other particles from settling on it when you’re not using it.
Floss the Right Way
Perhaps the most-often ignored part of your daily care is flossing. However, rather than being an accessory to the more-effective brushing, flossing is imperative to keeping the hard-to-reach areas of your mouth free from food debris and plaque. Flossing is more than just slipping some string between each tooth, it’s also about sweeping it around, dislodging particles all around the base of each tooth, in a C pattern.
It’s also important to not floss too hard, as this can easily lead to gum damage and bleeding.
Learn the Right Order of Tasks
We recommend flossing before you brush or use mouthwash, as particles that are dislodged during flossing need to be flushed from the mouth. At the very least, when you do floss, rinse with water afterward to prevent the particles from just settling elsewhere in the mouth.
Learn to Brush Your Tongue
It can feel weird at first, but brushing your tongue is key to killing the bacteria that cause bad breath and plaque buildup, as there are millions of bacteria living on your tongue. Another way to help with this is by using a good fluoride mouthwash once a day to help freshen breath and keep your teeth clean in general.
Dental Care in San Francisco
The best advice for dental care comes from the professionals, like Dr. Kandar of UNO DENTAL. If you want to know more about how to best take care of your pearly whites, or simply need to schedule a checkup, call or fill out our online contact form today.
