Celebrate National Dental Hygiene Month With These Healthy Smile Tips

October is National Dental Hygiene Month. It’s a great time to take a look at your own dental hygiene practices and prioritize your oral health.

Here are some tips to help you preserve your healthy smile for years to come.

Recognize How Dental Health Impacts Your Overall Health

The health of your teeth and mouth influences your overall health. An unhealthy mouth is a sign of other possible health problems. Alternatively, poor dental health can also lead to other health problems.

You can improve your health with good daily oral hygiene practices that include more than just brushing your teeth daily. With the right habits, you can offset or reverse many health issues connected to the health of your teeth.

Prioritize Flossing

While most people know that they need to brush daily, flossing is often overlooked. Floss is designed to remove leftover food from places that a toothbrush can’t reach. Without it, you are missing an important step toward a complete and effective dental cleaning at home.

A toothbrush makes broad sweeping strokes to get dirt off the surface, but can’t reach into the spaces deep between your teeth. Floss can get into these small spaces and remove anything that is there, so that bacteria cannot feed on it. Flossing helps prevent issues like cavities by providing a more thorough clean when used alongside a quality toothbrush.

Discuss Floss and Toothbrush Recommendations With Your Dental Hygienist

While brushing and flossing daily are a good first step to dental hygiene, it is important to know that not all floss or toothbrushes are made the same. If you want to see better results from your daily tooth care practice, then discuss which tools you should use with your dentist or dental hygienist. They can help you find the right type of tool for your needs that won’t cause other problems and give you a more thorough cleaning at home.

Many variations in design can make a big difference in their performance. A good example of this is a manual toothbrush vs. a sonic toothbrush. A sonic toothbrush scrubs faster and uses ultrasonic sound waves to break down plaque, providing a better clean than a regular toothbrush.

Brushing daily is a good start to better health, but how you brush also matters. You need to implement the right way to brush your teeth, which also depends on the type of brush you have. Once you have the right brush for your needs, discuss how to use it effectively with your dentist.

Use Mouthwash Alongside Floss And A Toothbrush

A good dental cleaning practice at home means using a toothbrush, floss, and mouthwash regularly. Where floss can reach into places that a toothbrush cannot, mouthwash can clean deeper than floss can. It kills bacteria that lead to cavities or infections. The best part about mouthwash is that it does not take long to use.

Before you start to use any mouthwash, consult your dentist first. There are many mouthwash options on the market, and some are better for certain situations. You want to make sure that the option you choose is appropriate for your overall health and won’t damage your teeth and gums with daily use.

Schedule Regular Teeth Cleanings

No matter how good your dental health practice is at home, going to the dentist for a cleaning can provide better results. You should see a dentist for regular scheduled cleanings twice per year. The tools and methods that they use to clean your teeth can help with potential problems that you may have.

For example, removing plaque buildup on your teeth often requires dental equipment that you cannot get at home. A dental drill with the right attachment, for example, can remove hardened plaque that your toothbrush cannot. It is easy for plaque to build up over time, even if you diligently brush and floss every day, but a dentist can remove it and restore your teeth to a healthy, smooth finish.

Regularly scheduled teeth cleanings also give your dentist a chance to fix any issues that they see with your cleaning practices, as well as any health issues that are beginning to develop. If caught early, many dental health problems can be corrected before serious or permanent damage is done.

Address Gum Inflammation Early

While your teeth are important, you also need to pay attention to your gums. When you develop health issues, your gums are often the first part to show it. Gum inflammation is a sign of an unhealthy mouth, possibly due to a buildup of bacteria or similar causes.

Your dentist can find the cause of gum inflammation, as well as detect it early with an exam. This is one of the things that they look for every time they examine your mouth for dental issues. It could be a sign that you need to make a few changes to how you care for your mouth, or that you may have other underlying issues that need to be addressed. Either way, working with a dentist to investigate the problem is one of the best ways to ensure better dental health moving forward.

Partner With A Dentist To Keep Your Smile Healthy

Don’t ignore your oral health until you have a problem that requires a serious dental intervention to fix. The best way to avoid issues is to be proactive about your health.

At Eriks Dental Group, we focus on preventive measures and education to help all of our patients see the results that they want. We can help you develop the skills and find the right tools to help you take care of your teeth and overall health.

Contact Eriks Dental Group at 561-733-4004 to schedule a consultation and see how you can improve your dental health with help from our dental specialists.