7 Tips to keep your teeth healthy
In your early days, you must have been told to take good care of our teeth. From brushing our teeth twice a day, to decrease the consumption of eating chocolate and candies, it’s possible that you might or might not have followed the advice. Apart from these common recommendations, here we’re going to take you through various other helpful tips to help you maintain good oral hygiene. So, let’s not wait anymore and dive into them one by one.
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Brush properly twice a day
We all do brushing every morning, but from morning till night, we eat several varieties of food. From deep-dish pizza, hamburger, apple pie, to clam chowder, and Texas barbeque, our teeth have to go a lot. And the best part is without saying a word.
That’s the reason; we are the ones responsible for taking care of them and keeping them healthy at all times. Brushing only in the morning is never enough. Not only should you brush twice a day, including before going to bed, but should do it properly.
The way you do brushing also affects the overall health of your teeth. Instead of going too aggressive with them, consider making short circular motions, from up and down. If you’re brushing too hard on your tooth, it’s time you should avoid that as it can damage tooth enamel and also adversely affect tooth sensitivity.
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Go for a fluoride toothpaste
You may likely be using fancy gel toothpaste as your daily driver, but its time you should check whether it contains fluoride or not. If not, you must replace your current tooth with fluoride toothpaste.
Fluoride is an element that originates from the earth’s soil fluorine. Apart from whitening your teeth, many oral experts consider it as the strongest element for preventing tooth decay or cavities. It is widely used in toothpaste and mouthwash.
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Do not smoke
Whether you smoke once in a day, week, or month, you should probably quit smoking. Not only does it help you to keep your teeth healthy, but it will keep you away from severe problems and diseases. If you’ve been smoking for a very long time, it can negatively affect your lungs and heart, and cause many fatal diseases like emphysema, lung cancer, etc. Therefore, no matter what, you must stop smoking right away.
- Start using a mouthwash
Recent studies have shown that mouthwash is one of the great ways of making your teeth healthy and bacteria-free. Mouthwash contains chlorhexidine, which is an antibacterial ingredient, helps to eliminate gingivitis and plaque. Many people would have thought of using mouthwash, but couldn’t include it every day in their routine because they are unaware of how to use the mouth-cleansing liquid. Many dentists and oral hygienists also recommend using mouthwash, apart from your toothpaste.
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Include flossing as your daily habit
Do you have bad breath? Well, flossing is the process that can help you solve this embarrassing oral issue. With this process, you will be able to remove bacteria and plaque, which are beyond the reach of toothpaste. As mentioned earlier, the variety of food items we eat every day affect your oral hygiene. At times, some food may have stuck between your teeth, which is considered the primary cause of bad breath.
The ideal way to do flossing is to move the floss in an up-and-down motion gently. When done in the wrong way, it may give you some pain and also won’t solve your gum problem properly.
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Avoid excessive sugary and acidic food
Many people have a sweet tooth, and they can’t resist themselves eating sugary food at least once in a day. Although it may be delicious having desserts like cakes, candies, etc., sugar can harm the enamel of your teeth and take a toll on your oral health.
As you may know, sugar contains acid, and this acid may abrade the sensitivity of your teeth’s enamel. Further, experts recommend limiting starchy foods such as bread, pasta, chips, etc. as they are the cause of tooth decay. Therefore, by avoiding excessive sugary and starchy food, you can keep your teeth in good, healthy shape.
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Go for regular dental checkup
One of the useful tips to keep your teeth healthy is to change your everyday habits. Even if you’re brushing twice a day dutifully, it’s crucial to see a dentist and do a dental checkup regularly. With routine dental examination, the doctor will clean your teeth, look for possible cavities, and check other important oral health issues.
After doing the proper checkup, he/she might trace some issues and suggest the required solution or treatment. Experts recommend seeing a dentist at least once in six months. If you’re someone who takes very good care of your oral hygiene by brushing properly, then going once in a year should be enough.
Tips for children
It may be pretty easy for an adult like you to follow all the tips mentioned above to improve your oral health. However, when it comes to kids, the task becomes full of hassles. Just like your permanent adult teeth, a child’s baby teeth need proper attention and continuous dental care. So, with this in mind, let’s list out some of the useful tips to keep your child’s teeth healthy:
- In early age, milk or juice is the primary source for a baby’s hunger needs. But when used extensively, especially in inappropriate times, it can cause tooth decay. So, you should avoid giving them milk or any other food item when they’re going to bed.
- Place your toothpaste out of the reach of the child.
- If your little one does not have teeth yet, be sure to wipe his/her gums with a soft, warm, and wet towel every day. By doing this, you’re helping them make aware of the cleaning of their teeth.
Summary
Whether or not you already know these tips given above, it’s important to develop a habit of taking care of your oral hygiene. By brushing twice a day, give up smoking, eating a healthy diet, flossing, and regular dental checkups all together can help you increase the life of your teeth. It keeps you out of the sight from any dental issues and, thus, enables you to stay healthy from any disease.
