When it comes to oral hygiene, most of us often fall short of the target. This happens due to lack of our knowledge regarding oral care. We either don’t know much about brushing, flossing and tongue cleaning or don’t follow the rules of the game. Well, the focus should first be on being familiar with oral hygiene basics as only this can help you maintain superior oral hygiene.
Without a regular and proper care to your teeth and gums, you can never achieve total dental health. And then, a regular visit to the dentist is also essential in keeping teeth and gums healthy and disease-free.
Oral hygiene basics to know
1. Brushing twice a day is important
If you do brush your teeth just once a day in the morning, this is the right time to know the limitations of doing so. With once a day brushing, there will be chances of bacteria and foods staying in the mouth for a longer period and causing plaque buildup. But when you do brushing before hitting the bed as well, it helps prevent any chances of bacterial growth in your mouth. There are so many other benefits of brushing your teeth twice a day that you need to know.
2. Flossing after brushing is essential
If you have not been flossing the teeth, you should start doing it now. Even dentists recommend this because it helps clean between the teeth where your toothbrush bristles can reach. If you don’t floss, this might let food particles and plaque to stay inside the mouth and cause damage to your teeth. Your daily oral care schedule should include flossing to get a total result and superior oral health for sure.
3. Tongue cleaning should be a daily routine
Your tongue is a place where bacteria thrive. If not cleaned regularly, these bacteria can enter the bloodstream and take the damage to other parts of the body. In the same way, they are responsible for gum disease and poor health to your teeth. You should scrape or clean the tongue daily, or include this in your daily oral care ritual. You can use a tongue cleaner or your brush itself for cleaning the tongue thoroughly.
4. Right brushing technique is key to oral health
Your daily act of brushing should be done using a right technique to fetch your desired results. First, you should not start brushing every day from the same spot; second, you should not brush in a straight line and instead follow circular motions for clean all areas. Being gentle and thorough, not brushing hard, and using a toothbrush with sot bristles are some of the etiquettes to use for superior oral health. All this adds to the technique of brushing you should follow.
5. Eat right foods and maintain dental health
Your daily brushing and flossing can’t help beyond a point if you don’t eat right foods. Excess use of sugary-rich items, consuming too much tea or coffee, not drinking enough water through the way, all can be harmful to your dental health. Avoid the drinks that are bad for your teeth. Your diet should include leafy green vegetables, apples, carrot, almonds, nuts, and dairy products, especially cheese to help your teeth and gums. You should avoid smoking and also stay away from wines or whiskey for optimum dental health.
6. Avoid smoking or stay away from tobacco products
Tobacco products are one of biggest detriments to oral health. They can stain or discolor teeth and gradually cause dental decay. Smoking, in particular, is bad for your teeth as it leaves bad spot behind and weakens the dental structure. If you want to maintain the whitening glow and optimum health of your teeth, you better stay away from smoking or never consume tobacco products. If possible, cut back on alcohol as well as they are also very harmful to your dental health.
7. Visit the dentist every six months
One of the oral hygiene basics is to visit Bethpage dentist every six months. This way, you will get regular oral exams, checkups and if need be, dental cleanings. The dentist will screen your teeth and try to spot if any dental problem is festering beneath. By being regular to the dentist, you can stay on top of your dental health by fighting off problems at an early stage itself. This is how superior dental health is achieved.
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Author Bio
Sanjay is a regular blogger with specialization in health, body, and fitness. His blog regularly shares ideas and posts regarding dental health and other topics related to teeth and gum treatment options. His posts are a good source of knowledge, but you should visit a top Bethpage dentist for further information regarding your dental health.
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Great resource here Sanjay! Excellent oral hygiene is a must for me with the Sjogren’s autoimmune illness. Thankfully there are good products on the market now to help with that too!
Totally agree to tongue scraping!! That’s a habit I just picked up this year and I can’t even imagine life without it now.
This is probably TMI, but I never regularly cleaned my tongue until the past year. After a bout of strep throat, the antibiotics I took left a bacterial imbalance in my mouth I couldn’t shake. The dentist then suggest using a tongue scraper and the results were amazing.
Great post! x
Michelle
Great article! I sure hate to floss but this was a great reminder of how important that task is!! Now I am going to schedule my six month check up lol.
Oral health became real important to me when I started having problems with my teeth after having to have a root canal. Visiting the dentist frequently is really key in preventative care. I’ve also learned it’s important to go to the dentist as soon as you feel something is wrong because it can go south suddenly if you don’t!
I am not bad with oral hygiene but I am not great either. I use to not floss and then I started, 5 or 6 months later I went to the dentist and found out I had gotten 3 cavities in between my teeth! I found that super weird considering I had never flossed before and never got any and then when I started flossing I got cavities.. very strange. You have some wonderful tips in here. Oral hygiene is very important and it’s something that is will be important for our entire lives! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Thank you for this! I didn’t know all of these tips. Trying hard to start my four year old off with good habits!
Brushing twice a day is the bare minimum for me. I would hate for my teeth to fall out from lack of care.
Use a really great points. You would think that most people would know all this, but it’s easy to forget the importance of each