General Dentistry: 4 Everyday Oral Health Tips for Adults

General dentistry aims to improve your oral health by teaching you ways to prevent oral issues and providing appropriate treatments when necessary. Taking good care of your mouth can keep oral issues like tooth decay and gum disease away. It reduces your dental bills in the long term since healthy teeth and gums are less likely to develop problems that require expensive treatments.

4 General dentistry tips for healthy teeth and gums

Ready to make taking good care of your mouth a top priority? Here are some general dentistry tips that will help:

1. Brush twice daily

Brushing once a day is not enough to protect teeth and gums from plaque and bacteria. The latter feasts on small bits of food that are left in the mouth after meals. The bacteria coat teeth with a sticky film called plaque which consists of food debris, bacteria, and acids. These acids break teeth down, leading to dental problems like tooth decay and gum disease.

Brushing gets rid of food particles, plaque, acids, and bacteria in the mouth. Brushing once a day only gives teeth limited protection. Brushing twice a day is a more effective approach and one of those times should be right before bed. Saliva production goes down while a person sleeps, making their teeth more susceptible to acids in the mouth. Brushing right before bed gets rid of all the plaque and acids that have built up in the mouth during the day before the most vulnerable time for one's teeth.

2. Floss daily

Teeth have five sides that need to be cleaned regularly to keep them healthy: the front, back, biting surface, and its left and right sides. Brushing only cleans three of these surfaces. Dental floss is needed to clean the sides which are typically tight areas surrounded by other teeth.

A tooth remains vulnerable to decay if one of its sides is being eaten away by plaque. Flossing is an effective way to clean interdental spaces.

3. Limit sugar intake

If oral bacteria could talk, they would boldly declare sugar is their favorite food. These microorganisms thrive in sugary environments and the acids they excrete after consuming sugar wreaks havoc on teeth. Sugar has a sticky constituency which means lots of it is left on teeth for bacteria to consume.

Those who consume lots of sugar are more likely to deal with gum disease and tooth decay. Rinsing the mouth with water after eating a sugary treat is an easy way to minimize the damage it causes.

4. Visit a dentist twice each year

Regular visits to a dentist go a long way when it comes to keeping the mouth healthy. It provides an opportunity to detect problems in their infancy and the dentist can perform teeth cleaning to remove plaque and tartar from teeth surfaces. Tartar is calcified plaque that cannot be removed by brushing or flossing. A tool called a scaler is needed to safely get it off the teeth.

Regular trips to a dentist also provide an opportunity to get preventative treatments as needed.

Take control of your oral health

Call or visit our Coral Gables clinic to learn more about how to take care of your teeth and gums.

Request an appointment here: https://www.gablesexceptionaldentistry.com or call Gables Exceptional Dentistry at (305) 203-4132 for an appointment in our Coral Gables office.

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