Top Tips For Maintaining Oral Health
If you want to prevent cavities, you need to take your oral health seriously. Maintaining your oral health will also ensure that you spend less time at the dentist. Fortunately, there are a number of tips that you should know about which will help you maintain good oral health.
Brush At Least Twice A Day
Brushing your teeth is the most effective way of ensuring that your teeth are clean. Keeping your teeth clean is vital to oral health as build up on the teeth can cause gum problems and cavities. This is why you need brush your teeth twice a day at least. Ideally, you should be brushing your teeth after meals to remove any residue from your food.
When you brush your teeth, you need to spend time on every part of your mouth such as the cheeks and tongue. You should also use toothpaste that has fluoride in it. You also need to replace your toothbrush every 3 to 4 months to ensure that it is able to clean your teeth correctly.
Floss At Least Once A Day
While brushing your teeth is essential to oral health, you need to take the time to floss as well. Flossing will remove any food stuck between your teeth and will help keep your gums healthy. When you floss, you need to use around 18 inches of floss.
Once you have the floss, you should wrap it around your middle finger and pull it tight. When flossing, you have to focus on one tooth at a time while using a gentle rubbing motion instead of a hard scrape. When you move to a new tooth, you need to use a new part of the floss. There are some people who find it difficult to use normal floss if you are one of these people you should consider an interdental cleaner.
Visit The Dentist Every 6 Months
While maintaining your oral health will limit the number of times you have to see the dentist, you do need to regularly visit. It is recommended that you book an appointment with the dentists every 6 months. When you visit the dentist, you are getting a professional cleaning and check which is vital to catch any problems before they become too large.
Of course, there are times when you need to visit the dentist outside of the 2 appointments per year. If your gums are red and swollen or if they bleed when you floss, you need to visit the dentist. You should also visit the dentist if your permanent teeth become loose, there is a change in alignment of your teeth or you have sudden sensitivity to food/liquid temperature.
Be Careful With Toothpicks
A lot of people make the mistake of using toothpicks regularly because they believe they can help with oral health. This is actually something that you should be careful with as toothpicks can cause damage to the gums. It is recommended that you try interdental cleaners instead of toothpicks because they are softer on the gums.