3 Quick Tips to Improve Your Dental Routine

Developing a routine is not easy. It needs a constant effort and determination from your side to develop persistence. Inculcating a dental routine is mandatory to achieve good oral health. A healthy mouth keeps a number of medical problems at bay. Our mouth is the beginning of our digestive system. Hence, it should be the cleanest of all as it is the first place in which our body receives almost every nutrient. As a matter of fact, we find that teeth and the oral cavity are generally one of the most neglected body parts and bear importance to an individual only when it starts hurting.

Nevertheless, here are 3 quick tips mentioned below that can help you improve your dental routine.

1. Never forget to clean your tongue daily

We use all sorts of fancy items to brush our teeth which include colourful toothpastes and uniquely designed toothbrushes. We tend to become oblivious of the organ that lies between our 32 teeth-our tongue. Our tongue is a storehouse of a variety of oral bacteria and food remnants. Our tongue does not have a smooth surface and is a vital part of preventative dental care. It has small projections which are actually the taste buds. To appreciate the roughness of our tongue closely, wipe your tongue with a dry cloth and run your finger over the surface. You will find very tiny irregularities on your tongue. These are excellent spaces for food entrapment. After brushing your teeth, you get rid of all the food debris and plaque layer stuck on your teeth. About three fourths of the debris are washed off as you rinse your mouth. The remaining one fourth remains stuck to your tongue. These debris can accumulate to become the leading cause for bad breath. The entrapped food particles become a decent source of nutrition for oral bacteria causing dental decay. Cleaning of tongue is sure-shot preventive measure for few important oral problems.

2. Change your toothbrush after every 3 months

As you change your clothes or footwear when they are old or worn out, you need to change your toothbrush also. Some of us wait till we get bored of the toothbrush and few of us change only when we feel that most of the bristles have withered away. Actually, one should replace their toothbrush with a new one every 3 months. Why so? It is because your bristles harden after regular usage and by about 3 months become rigid and poky. These toothbrushes are unfit to be used on human teeth at least. ADA recommends soft bristled toothbrush so that only the debris stuck on the teeth are removed and the tooth layers like enamel remain intact. Besides, poky bristles often injure your gums and can form ulcers which take almost 3 to 4 days to heal. Prolonged use of hard toothbrush can irritate your gums and cause gum recession leading to the exposure of tooth roots.

Another important factor to be noted is the way you brush your teeth. Excessive or aggressive method of tooth-brushing can cause more harm than good. While brushing your teeth, care should be taken to brush in up and down direction instead of the easy method of brushing in left and right strokes. Hold your toothbrush in such a way that the bristles engage on the teeth surfaces at an angle of 45 degrees.

Make it a habit of flossing your teeth after brushing them. This takes care of the debris stuck in between the teeth. As you pass your floss in between your teeth, these debris are pulled out in the process.

3. Healthy diet

A healthy diet is imperative to achieve good dental health. A balanced diet is one that provides oral health as well as overall health. The nutrients consumed should be in optimum levels as an excess or deficiency can trigger a series of adverse effects. For instance, a diet loaded with high sugars or carbohydrates make you prone for dental decay. Similarly, a diet which is scanty in nutrients can put you in the risk of gum disease as well as other systemic conditions.

It is extremely important to include foods that are rich in fibre content. Next time when you feel like snacking, grab an apple or carrot to satisfy that in-between-meals hunger. Apart from the nutritive value they have, fresh fruits and raw vegetables can exercise your muscles meant for chewing. As you munch on these fibrous food items, the sticky layer covering your teeth gets scraped off. So you actually clean your teeth while having fibrous food products.

Refrain from sticky food products like chocolates or chewing gums as the food particles that are stuck to the teeth remain there until you brush your teeth the next time. This time period allowed is sufficient for the oral bacteria to act on your teeth and cause dental decay.

Inclusion of food products in its raw form is healthier as compared to those that are in processed form. Hence, reduce the usage of processed or refined forms of foods and beverages.

When you include these few steps in your daily routine, you will be able to appreciate a marked difference your oral health. Try to find few extra seconds in your busy routine for a better YOU!

For more information and tips on how to improve your overall dental health, please give our Spokane Dental Office today.