10 Great Dental Hygiene Tips I Make Them Habits in 2020

Maintaining great dental hygiene is a big favor you can do yourself. Not only will you have a pleasant smile, but it can help you prevent gum disease, infection, heart disease, tooth decay, strokes, and bad breath.

Doesn’t that sound like a bargain?

Yea, we thought so too!

So, if you're a smart person – of which we think you're – you'd join the rest of us and start maintaining great dental hygiene. You can begin by following the 10 tips below, and we recommend that you make them habits in 2020.

ALSO CHECK: New Year, New Smile

 

Proper Brushing

This is probably the most popular way of keeping your teeth clean. When brushing your teeth, the bristles of your toothbrush should be in contact with your gum line and tooth surface at an angle of 45 degrees. Do not be so harsh when brushing your teeth, you may hurt your gums. Instead, always be gently using an up-and-down and back-and-forth motion. Make sure that you brush both the outer and inner surface of your teeth. Your tongue and the roof of your mouth should also be brushed to get rid of bacteria that causes bad breath. If you can't brush your teeth after every meal you take, at least, brush it twice a day.

 

Flossing Regularly

There are certain areas and spaces in between your teeth that cannot be thoroughly cleaned using a toothbrush. This is where your flossing is effective. Flossing can get rid of the food remains that can get caught between your teeth. The habit of flossing should be done on a daily basis – at least once a day.

 

Avoid Tobacco

Besides being great for other health reasons, avoiding tobacco is good for your teeth. Smoking tobacco and other products can stain your teeth and turn them yellow or brownish. Tobacco can also lead to gum disease as it can affect the normal functioning of the tissue cells in your gums. It can also impair the normal flow of blood to the gums, and as a result, this lengthens the wound healing period.

 

Limit Sodas, Coffee and Alcohol

Sodas, coffee and alcohol, should be limited or consume them once in a while. Just like any other drinkable liquid, which is not water, coffee can lead to tooth stains, and enamel erosion by causing bacteria to grow in your mouth. Coffee sticks to the tongue, and this means that it can cause you to develop halitosis or bad breath. Soda and alcohol are also as harmful to your teeth as they can lead to tooth decay and gum disease if consumed more often.

 

Consume Calcium

In case you didn't know, calcium is good for your teeth. Calcium is good for the teeth the same way it's good for the bones. So if you're wise, you should consume dairy products such as yogurt, milk, cheese and broccoli. You can count on Vitamin D and Calcium in helping you maintain great dental hygiene. You might also need to consider Vitamin B if you don't want your gums to bleed and your teeth to crack.

 

Visit Your Dentist

To visit your dentist, you don’t have to wait for a toothache or to see some blood come out of your gums when brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth, flossing, using mouthwash and consuming dairy products doesn’t mean that you should not visit your dentist. If you’re really serious about maintaining a great hygiene, you have to make it a habit to visit Istanbul Dental Center for regular dental checkups. The Center’s dental experts can save you severe pain by identifying some dental problems that you never saw coming.

Use Mouthwash

Not every mouthwash is ideal when it comes to maintaining dental hygiene. Before you buy any mouthwash, make sure that it contains chlorine dioxide or Listerine –these two substances can help maintain strong teeth and kills germs that cause bad breath. If you are not flossing, properly brushing your teeth, eating well and visiting your dentist, you really can't expect mouthwash to do all the heavy lifting and help you have great dental hygiene. Mouthwash is just an icing on the cake that will help improve your dental health.

Look at the Bigger Picture

Most people think that maintaining great oral health helps avoid gum disease, toothaches, bad breath and infection. But they tend to turn a blind eye on the fact that great dental hygiene is good for their overall health. Just by maintaining good oral health, you can steer clear of sickness such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and systemic infections that can be fatal. As mentioned earlier, straight healthy teeth are no longer just for a pleasant smile.

 

Brush Your Tongue

Yes, I said tongue, not teeth. Cleaning the tongue is one of the things that many people tend to forget as they only focus on teeth. But if you don't get rid of the bacteria that live in your tongue, it affects your teeth. This is the reason why your teeth can still turn yellow even if you have been brushing it 3 times every day. When brushing your tongue, Colgate recommends that start at the back of your tongue and work your way towards the entire open surface of your tongue. For thorough tongue cleaning, you might as well consider using a tongue scraper which is available at pharmacies.

Notice Dental Symptoms

If you feel like your developing a toothache or when you notice blood coming out of your gum, you should make sure that you visit your dentist as soon as you can. This will give your dentist adequate time to diagnose and treat the problem before it develops into unbearable pain.

This content is edited by Flymedi Medical Editors in December 2019.