Oral Hygiene Instructions
Keeping a good oral hygiene is imperative if you wish to avoid nasty diseases to your teeth and gum. If proper brushing and flossing are ignored you may be left with cavities that hurt and may develop into more serious problems which would require root canal treatments and possibly antibiotics. Gum disease might kick in if your oral hygiene is not up to scratch and that can become serious requiring a visit to a specialised periodontist.
Keeping impeccable oral hygiene is not as hard as people may think and it involves:
- Visiting your dentist/hygienist for routine cleaning and removal of collected calculus on teeth and under gum line. You should visit for cleaning once every six months.
- Try to reduce your intake of carbohydrates. Bacteria naturally living on our teeth feeds on sugars in carbohydrates and they turn it into an acidic substance that damages teeth. Reducing your carbohydrates means less food for bacteria.
- Be careful of some fruits that have high acid content as those may also damage your teeth. Such fruits would be citrus fruits and tomatoes.
- Use flouride rinse if your dentist suggests it to you.
- Make proper brushing and flossing a habit.
Proper brushing would be achieved by:
- Always using a soft bristled toothbrush.
- Opt for using anti-cavity flouride rich toothpaste. Some products bear logos of specialised associations and these have been tested by specialists for their affectivity.
- When brushing, brush in a circular motion holding the toothbrush at 45 degrees to the gum line sweeping plaque out of your gum pockets.
- The minimum you should brush your teeth for is 2 minutes twice a day!
- Remember that bacteria also lives on your gums and tongue and therefore, you will benefit from brushing them as well as your teeth.
- Avoid brushing teeth in an excessively hard manner as that may cause your gums to recede exposing your roots.
proper flossing would be achieved by:
- Use a long floss, around 18 inches, and wrap it around fingers mostly to one side to give you greater control.
- Floss EACH tooth making a "C" shape as you do it each time.
- Floss in your gum pockets.
- Adhering to these instructions would remove plaque from behind your teeth from the areas unreachable by your toothbrush and that prevents gum diseases.
For more information about keeping a great oral hygiene that may deal with many of your dental and oral problems, get in touch with us for an appointment with a dentist or a hygienist.
