A Good Dental Hygiene Routine

A Good Dental Hygiene Routine

Your mouth goes through a lot day in, day out. You are talking, chewing, tasting, biting and smiling. If you neglect your teeth and gums you will inevitably regret it. You will develop tooth decay and gum disease. This can only lead to pain and discomfort. Therefore, you need to be keeping things very clean on a regular basis.

You should get into a good brushing routine that should take a minimum of 2 minutes to clean all the surfaces of your teeth thoroughly. Then it is vital to clean in between the teeth by flossing. The number of people that don’t floss is huge. If you don’t floss you leave bacteria and food in between your teeth. This leads to bad breath, bleeding gums (gingivitis) and decay. If you don’t floss for a few days, next time you floss smell it – it wont smell good!

It’s also important to brush your tongue to remove the bacteria that contribute to bad breath. You can then also use a mouthwash to aid the cleansing of your mouth. This isn’t vital but does help.

Make sure you use a toothpaste and mouthwash that contains fluoride. Fluoride is the active ingredient that will help prevent tooth decay. It also goes a long way in trying to reverse tooth decay in its early stages.

So in the morning after breakfast and just before you go to bed, spend 5 or 6 minutes cleaning your teeth. It’s also not a bad idea to give them a clean after each meal. For some great tutorials and videos on tooth brushing I could not recommend YouTube enough.

David Hurst BDS (Lon)