A dental health routine is an integral part of your overall wellbeing. Keeping good oral health fights bad breath, tooth decay, and gum disease. It is not just your teeth and gums at risk when you do not practice good dental hygiene; you have a higher chance of both heart attack and stroke if you suffer from gum disease. The better care of your teeth you take, the longer you can keep them and the healthier you are overall. Here is an excellent dental hygiene routine that you can adopt to help protect your teeth and gums in the long term and keep a beautiful and healthy smile.
Brush Your Teeth
You need to brush your teeth twice a day to maintain healthy teeth and gums. The best time to do this is in the morning when you wake up, to rid your mouth of bacteria that accumulates during your sleep, and before you go to bed to make sure there are no food particles or sugar lingering in your mouth. When you brush your teeth, you need to do so in quadrants and spend 30 seconds cleaning each quadrant for a total of two minutes. To brush, hold the toothbrush at a 45-degree angle pointed up or down towards the gums and brush in small circular motions to get rid of plaque. Make sure that you are brushing all surfaces of your teeth: front, back, and sides, as well as the chewing surfaces. Brushing in this fashion will help keep your teeth and gums clean. You should also brush your teeth after you eat or drink if you wear a retainer or Invisalign.
Floss Your Teeth
When you brush your teeth, you need to floss. It is also highly recommended to carry around floss on your person so that if you need it in an emergency, you have it. To floss, take a 45 cm strand of floss and hold it between both hands. Ribbon floss is better for those with teeth that are tightly packed together. Floss should be brought gently between the teeth, and you should always follow the curve of your tooth to avoid damaging or cutting your gum. If your gums do bleed, this can be a sign of gingivitis. Floss between every tooth, moving the floss so that a clean bit of floss goes through your teeth each time.
Mouthwash
There are two types of mouthwash: therapeutic and cosmetic. Therapeutic mouthwash treats bad breath, gingivitis, and plaque and can help prevent tooth decay while cosmetic mouthwash only temporarily reduces bad breath. Use mouthwash whenever you brush your teeth. After you do these two things, then swish a small amount of mouthwash in your mouth for 30 seconds to a minute and spit it into the sink.
Clean Your Tongue
You can use a toothbrush, floss, or a tongue scraper to clean your tongue. There is a lot of bacteria living on your tongue, and cleaning it will help keep your teeth healthy as well as keep your breath fresh. If you clean your tongue with a toothbrush, put a little bit of toothpaste onto the brush and move it around the tongue in circular motions. With floss, hold the floss as you would if you were flossing and drag it down your tongue to scrape and clean your tongue then rinse your mouth. If you are using a tongue scraper, scrape down your tongue with the device then rinse your mouth.
Practicing good oral hygiene will mean that you get to keep your teeth longer and that your teeth will always look great. It is worth it to take care of your teeth, and with just a few actions that take less than 10 minutes to do a day, you can protect your health. If you are looking for a dentist in Oshawa or an emergency dentist in Oshawa, then look no further than KR Dental. Our team is experienced and can tackle any of your dental health needs. Contact us today.