Oral Hygiene Practices That Can Maintain Your Dental Health

Professional dental care is significant to improve your oral health and correct any dental problems. However, prevention is better than care. Therefore, you should consider some preventive dental care practices at home.

One of the preventive dental care practices you can adopt is good oral hygiene. With your teeth clean, you are free from oral bacteria. You will be less susceptible to some dental problems such as tooth decay, root canal infection, and gum disease.

What Does Good Oral Hygiene Entail?

Good oral hygiene does not only involve brushing or flossing your teeth as recommended by the dentist. For clean and bacteria-free teeth and gums, you should consider the following types of oral hygiene boosting factors:

Brushing Your Teeth Regularly

When you don’t brush your teeth as recommended by your dentist, you might be at risk of plaque and tartar accumulation. After eating, food particles and other debris stuck on your teeth and below the gum line. If the debris remains on the teeth surfaces and gum line, harmful bacteria in your mouth act on them to form plaque and tartar.

Tartar and plaque might be hard to remove by brushing your teeth regularly. Harmful bacteria in tartar start acting on the sugars to produce acids that cause corrosion on your enamel and lead to tooth decay. To prevent such, you can consider brushing your teeth at least twice daily using fluoride toothpaste.

Toothbrush

The quality of your toothbrush affects the outcomes of your oral hygiene routine. Therefore, you should consider a toothbrush with gentle bristles and a firm handle. As you brush your teeth daily, the toothbrush bristles get damaged. Therefore, you can consider replacing your toothbrush after every three months.

Mouthwash

Some areas might be difficult to reach using a toothbrush. Such areas in your mouth can be hiding sites for bacteria. Bacteria can cause tooth decay, gum diseases, and other infections. To prevent such dental problems, your dentist might recommend mouth rinses.

Antiseptic mouth rinses can reach almost every part of your mouth and kill the bacteria. Therefore, you should consider using antiseptic mouthwash regularly, even if you still brush your teeth.

Flossing

Your toothbrush might not reach some parts of your teeth. To prevent the accumulation of plaque and tartar on such sites, the dentist might recommend flossing. Flossing at least once daily might be enough to remove plaque and tartar deposits between the teeth.

Your dental floss should be clean. Therefore, store your floss in a clean container and avoid reusing it.

Dental Cleanings

Your at-home oral hygiene routine might not be enough to prevent infections on your gums and teeth. When you brush or floss your teeth, you might not be able to eliminate all the plaque and tartar. To prevent the risk of infections and bad breath, you can consider visiting the dentist near you.

Your dentist will examine your teeth and recommend a cleaning. To remove plaque and calculus, your dentist will recommend a deep cleaning which involves scaling and root planning. To maintain good oral hygiene, Dr. Ravi Soni will recommend professional dental cleanings and exams every six months.

How Can What You Eat Affect Your Oral Hygiene?

What you eat affects your general health. However, your diet can affect your oral hygiene and dental health. When you consume sugary and sticky foods, you might be at increased risk of developing tooth decay.

Food sticks on your teeth surfaces. When you fail to brush your teeth, bacterial acts on the sugary food particles releasing acids that corrode your teeth. Repeated corrosion on your teeth can cause decay. Therefore, you can minimize the intake of sugary and sticky foods. Also, you can consider brushing your teeth after eating such foods.

However, some components in your diet can boost your oral hygiene and dental health. Drinking water after meals might be helpful to wash away the food particles on your teeth. Also, eating crunchy fruits can help rub food particles and debris on your tooth surfaces.

Finding a Dentist Near You

Do you want to get further oral hygiene instructions to improve your dental health? If so, you can consider visiting our dental office in Clearwater, 33756. Our dentist at Soni Smiles General dentist will give you more tips on how to prevent dental problems through good oral hygiene.