There’s a lot you can start doing today to prevent dental emergencies in the future. Save yourself the panic of scrambling to find a dental clinic in W1 open in the middle of the night by following the tips below. Do you want to learn how to keep your teeth and gums healthy? You’ll soon realise this requires more than the quick occasional brush and trip to the dentist’s surgery.
Brush your teeth for the prescribed amount of time
This advice might not seem newsworthy. However, studies have shown that many individuals aren’t cleaning their teeth as often as they should, with three out of ten British people only brushing their teeth once every day.
When we eat, we leave behind morsels of food that make plaque. If you don’t remove it after eating, plaque accumulates and will eventually harden into tartar.
People often wonder why plaque is so dangerous, and it’s because the material contains harmful bacteria that attack and aggravate your teeth and gums, causing decay and gum diseases.
By brushing your teeth and gums at least twice a day for two to three minutes, you’re preventing the onslaught of nasty mouth conditions and infections. If you wear braces or a similar type of appliance, the number of times you clean your teeth might increase as per the instruction of your orthodontist.
Use the right technique to brush your teeth
Again, this might not seem like the most informative tip, but so many dental patients around the UK and the world are doing their teeth a disservice by employing the incorrect techniques. These are the most common mistakes.
- Using hard bristle toothbrushes or brushing too hard.
Contrary to popular belief, brushing hard does more harm than good. It might be useful in removing plaque, but you also might remove enamel from your teeth and damage your gums.
You should be brushing your teeth with soft or extra-soft bristled toothbrushes and cleaning your teeth using gentle strokes.
- You aren’t using the proper technique.
On a Google search, you’ll find several techniques recommended by various dental professionals. With so much of an information overload, you’re bound to get confused about which method is right for you.
One simple piece of advice here is to stop brushing your teeth upwards and downwards but use a circular motion instead. This latter is more effective in removing grit in the gaps between your teeth.
- You hold onto your toothbrushes for too long.
Don’t get attached to your toothbrush; because you’ll need to replace it in 12 weeks or approximately 200 brushes time.
Purchase a new brush once the bristles of yours become frayed. Frayed bristles are ineffectual in keeping your pearly whites clean. Additionally, you can’t keep using the same brush after you’ve recovered from an illness as this could result in being re-infected.
- Don’t rinse with water.
Once you’ve rinsed out your mouth with water, the potency of the fluoride in your toothpaste is reduced and becomes less effective.
If rinsing forms part of your everyday routine, use mouthwash instead.