Proper Oral Hygiene: 5 Best Practices for Healthy Teeth

Your smile is more important than you might realize. Not only is it the highlight of your face, but oral health issues have the potential to spread to the rest of your body.

If left unchecked, a minor case of gum disease could become fatal. The easiest way to keep yourself in optimal wellness is to come up with a proper oral hygiene routine.

Simply brushing twice a day and making regular appointments with your dentist can reverse gingivitis. You should also work flossing into your day, and don’t forget about fluoride.

These are only a few things you can do to keep your mouth healthy. Check out this oral hygiene guide to learn more.

• Brush Your Teeth

Brushing your teeth is the most basic of oral hygiene tips. You need to brush at least twice a day. One of those times should be planned right before bedtime.

That will allow you to wash away all the germs that have built up in your mouth throughout the day. Move the brush around in gentle circular motions. Being too aggressive will do more harm than good.

When brushing, many people neglect their tongue. The thing is, that can attract plaque the same as your teeth. If you don’t hit that area, it can cause gum disease and bad breath.

• Fluoride Is Your Friend

When you’re buying oral hygiene products, flip over the bottle to read the ingredients on the back. If they don’t contain fluoride, put them back on the shelf.

Fluoride is an element that you can find deep within the soil. It gets added to toothpaste and mouthwash due to its ability to fight cavities.

• Add Flossing to Your Routine

The food that you eat can get stuck between your teeth. These food particles can trap tons of plaque and bacteria. The only way to get rid of it is to add flossing into your routine.

Wind the floss around your fingers and push it up to your gum line without going so far that you make yourself bleed.

• Make a Dental Appointment

It’s recommended that you make an appointment for the services this dentist offers at least twice a year if you’re not in optimal health. If you are in optimal health, you can get by with less frequent visits.

Either way, seeing your dentist will allow them to catch smaller oral health problems before they turn into larger ones. Getting a thorough cleaning done every once in a while will do your teeth some good in general.

• Drink Water

You can’t brush your teeth after every meal. What you can do is drink a glass of water. It will wash away some of the negative impacts of the food you ate.

Start Practicing Proper Oral Hygiene Today

Your teeth are the highlight of your face. You need to take care of them by practicing a proper oral hygiene routine. If you don’t brush your teeth every day and neglect to floss, it could result in gum disease and other serious conditions that could affect the rest of your body.

That’s the last thing you need. Follow some of the tips that you’ve read here today and visit the Lifestyle section of our blog for more pointers that will help you care for your pearly whites.