4 Ways to Improve Oral Hygiene
Sat, Jul 6th, 2019
Everybody knows the basic steps in maintaining good oral hygiene; Brushing your teeth twice every day, flossing daily and visiting your dentist every six months for a dental cleaning. Although many people don’t follow these steps, most individuals in fact, know them. But what are other things you could be doing differently to further enhance your beautiful smile? In this blog, we’ll discuss four things you might not be doing that could greatly improve your oral hygiene.
Limit Your Coffee and Red Wine Intake
What does your morning routine entail? A cup of coffee is probably consumed somewhere in that routine, am I right? Which is perfectly reasonable, but do you stop after one cup? The average American drinks 1.6 cups of coffee every day, but this study includes people who don’t drink coffee at all… When you eliminate the non-coffee drinkers, the average American drinks 3.2 cups of coffee every day! Drinking over three cups of coffee per day is extremely hard on the enamel of your teeth and can cause discoloration. If you can cut down your coffee intake, it can do wonders for your teeth.
Just as your morning might start with a cup of coffee, it may very well end with a glass of red wine. No, I’m not going to tell you to stop drinking your nightly glass of red wine, but if you’re in the comfort of your home, something that will really help your teeth is drinking through a straw. Drinking through a straw removes direct contact with your teeth and can help restore tooth enamel… (along with other dental practices).
Drink Plenty of Water
Not only is water the healthiest drink choice, but drinking water washes away acid from your teeth immediately after eating or drinking something sugary or acidic. Sports drinks are not a replacement for water, especially in the dental world. They contain very high sugar content and can lead to severe dental erosion. In fact, if you’re at work and decide to drink Gatorade, drink/rinse your mouth out with water. Of course, bringing your toothbrush to work is the best option, but using water to wash away sugar and acid is the next best thing.
Use a Quality Toothbrush
You will reap the benefits of using a quality toothbrush that will effectively clean your teeth. But what’s more effective, using a soft or hard-bristled toothbrush? You are actually hard-pressed to find a toothbrush with hard bristles these days. They have been linked to wearing down the enamel of your teeth and being too harsh on gums, causing them to recede. Whether you decide to use a toothbrush with soft bristles or something slightly harder is a topic to discuss with a dental professional.
Give Up Smoking
Smoking can cause stained teeth (deep into enamel), bad breath, damaged gums and numerous other health problems. Smoking also makes it very difficult to reverse gum disease.
Practicing all of the things listed above, in addition to brushing twice daily, flossing every day and seeing your dentist for a cleaning every six months, you’ll greatly increase the chances of improving your oral hygiene.
If you have any questions or would like to schedule an appointment, give Arnold Dentistry a call and we’ll be happy to assist you!
(813) 689-1529