A healthy smile is a beautiful smile because you’re free from toothaches, gum pains, eye-sore creating teeth stains, and other dental defects. That’s why dental experts never get tired of educating people about proper dental hygiene. So, if you have a toothache or any oral pain, or discomfort, visit a Wheat Ridge Dentist immediately.

That being said, this article covers expert dental care tips you should follow to attain and maintain healthy gums and teeth.

1. Regularly Floss Your Teeth

When it comes to the proper treatment of gums and teeth, flossing is one of the vital aspects. In fact, the American Dental Association (ADA) emphasizes the importance of regular flossing and the use of interdental cleaners.

Using floss removes food debris and plaque, avoiding cavities, tooth decay, and gum disease in areas where your toothbrush cannot reach.

Here are some expert tips from ADA on how to care for the teeth and gums:

• Understand the proper techniques to use floss or an interdental cleaner to ensure efficacy.
• Maintain good dental health by brushing your teeth for two minutes at least twice a day with an ADA-approved fluoride toothpaste.
• Cleaning between teeth with floss or an interdental cleaner at least once a day.

2. Use Fluoride Dental Products 

Fluoride is widely seen as an active ingredient in many dental products since it helps prevent tooth decay. This mineral slows the breakdown of tooth enamel and increases the rate of the teeth’s remineralization process, in which the newly formed enamel crystals are larger, harder, and more acid-resistant.

Tooth enamel is porous, and plaque build-up can produce acids that break down the internal structure of the teeth (demineralization). That’s why fluoride is important for remineralization. The most common sources of fluoride are fluoridated drinking water, some mouth rinses, and toothpaste.

Here are the benefits of using fluoridated products in dental health:

• Fluoride toothpaste, as its name suggests, contains fluoride that helps prevent cavities in both children and adults.
• Fluoride helps strengthen the exposed roots and weak spots of the teeth to avoid decay.
• Preventing the early stages of tooth decay can be done by brushing your teeth regularly with a fluoridated toothpaste. Children should always be under supervision when they’re brushing their teeth and only use a “pea-size” fluoridated toothpaste.
• Adding fluoride to drinking water is the most cost-effective method of protecting your family from tooth decay. Your dentist may recommend using high-concentration fluoride treatments, such as fluoride tablets or drops.

Fluoridated water is an excellent soda substitute to protect your teeth since it’ll minimize the damage caused by high sugar intake.

3. Avoid Using Teeth for Other Purpose

Poor oral health can be aggravated by using teeth for other purposes besides chewing. Opening stuff, like bottles and plastic bags, with your teeth can be dangerous to your oral health.

While your tooth enamel is considered the hardest substance in the body, teeth can break, for different reasons. Sugars and complex carbohydrates can weaken your tooth enamel, feeding the bacteria living on the teeth and forming acid that can “wear out” your teeth as a result of many years of grinding and clenching.

Here are some helpful tips to avoid damaging your teeth:

• Don’t use your teeth to open beer bottles. Use a bottle opener instead. If none is available, you can open a bottle using another bottle, a key chain with bottle opener function, or a coin, which are also impressive at parties.
• Don’t open a stubborn plastic bag or sales tag with your teeth. Never underestimate these things. Ripping open a plastic bag or a candy bar wrapper is harmful since it can cause cracks or fractures on your teeth, most especially if you already have a tooth restoration, which is not as strong as the natural tooth structure.
• Avoid biting your nails. Stress or anxiety is always a major factor in a nail-biting behavior or onychophagia, which is a common bad habit, leading to breaking or chipping of teeth.

Constant biting of your nails may result in teeth misalignment. You can decrease nail-biting by chewing sugar-free gum and keeping your nails trimmed.

4. Visit Your Dentist Regularly 

A regular dental check-up should never be overemphasized anymore because this aspect of healthcare is very important. Just imagine a toothache that can spread all over the body, particularly causing pounding headache and facial pain. That’s why you have to see your dentist at least every six months.

Here are the things you can expect when visiting a dentist:

• Complete oral assessment (teeth and gums)
• Cleaning or oral prophylaxis as needed (including tartar removal using scaling)
• X-rays might be recommended to detect teeth cavities
• Careful examination of other oral structures, including your tongue, face, head, throat, and neck

Conclusion

By applying these dental care tips, you’ll keep your teeth and gums healthy and strong.

So, from now on, make sure to visit your dentist regularly, brush your teeth properly by including flossing at least once daily, and using fluoridated products to help in the remineralization of your tooth enamel. Lastly, avoid using your teeth for any other purposes except for chewing food.

What are your favorite dental care tips?

Share your thoughts and comments with us.

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