How to Maintain Oral Hygiene at Home?

Maintain oral hygiene

Most of us diligently follow the oral hygiene routine of brushing twice a day. But do we know the importance of good oral care?

Many of us take the wrong advantage of having strong teeth during the 20s and 30s, only to realize that we’ve caused damage over the years.

If you practice the habit of going through a regular doctor’s checkup, you will realize that your teeth are not as healthy as you may think. All kinds of diseases and nutritional deficiencies reflect through our oral health, and it is essential to acknowledge it before it gets late.

Tips to maintain oral hygiene

From buying the best oral hygiene products to repeating the basics of flossing and brushing, there is a lot you can do. Here we have a few tips to maintain healthy teeth and gums so that you retain them along with your beautiful smile:

1. Always brush twice a day

Brushing your teeth twice a day can be one of the most basic oral tips you can follow. This is the single most important activity in your day which will improve your teeth’s longevity.

Note that how you brush your teeth is more than the frequency of doing it. Make sure to move the brush only in short strokes. Follow the gentle back and forth strokes to clean every tooth thoroughly and remember to clean the back as well.

2. Avoid sticky foods

Sticky foods are a nightmare for your teeth, no matter how much you enjoy having them. If you keep dry fruits at the peak of their snack list, you shouldn’t forget is that they can be very sticky for the teeth. Have dates and fig moderately to avoid this problem.

Candies and chocolates are worse for your health because they have low nutrition value and harm your teeth too. While you maintain oral hygiene for kids, let them know and realize why candies harm their teeth.

3. Rinse your mouth after every meal

After every meal, we have a certain amount of bacteria in our mouth. The purpose of oral hygiene is to make sure such bacterial instances become less. So, we must rinse our mouth after every meal. This is also the reason why it is important to brush our teeth after dinner.

It is best to rinse your mouth with an anti-bacterial mouthwash after dinner and brush your teeth before going to bed.

4. Floss regularly

Though your toothbrush does a fantastic job in cleaning your teeth on the visible surface, you’re forgetting about the leftovers between your teeth. Floss is nothing but a filament cord. It is used to clean areas in your teeth where the toothbrush can’t reach. You should regularly floss your teeth to keep away from plaque.

5. Visit the dentist regularly

Like the way you visit your GP for regular health checkups, you must visit a Dentist in Cajon frequently too. Just because you can’t see or feel anything wrong, doesn’t necessarily mean that your teeth are absolutely fine. You need to get your dentist to have a look at your teeth regularly to keep an update about your oral hygiene.

6. Get scaling done

If you have some serious gum issues, it is best you get scaling done. Scaling is a particular kind of dental procedure where cleaning is done under the line of gum to remove the deposit of plaque. Scaling is also referred to as deep cleaning for teeth and needs to be done at least twice a year.

7. Avoid sugary foods

Sweets are the single most dangerous enemy of your healthy gums and the pearly whites. Too much of sugar is known to not only cause diabetes but also cavities in your teeth.

Sugar attracts bad bacteria. With multi-level interactions of bad bacteria, our teeth have a thin film that doesn’t clean up with mouthwash. It creates holes or cavities and erodes our teeth gradually.

8. Use a suitable toothpaste

Every person has a personal choice of toothpaste. While most people go by the attractiveness of the advertisements, some go by taste or personal beliefs. The best of the lot are the ones who do proper research before dedicating themselves oral hygiene products.

Your toothpaste matters and you need the one that suits you. The general rule of thumb is that your toothpaste must contain at least a thousand PPM of fluoride and the approval by your country’s dentist association.

9. Change your brush regularly

Your toothbrush comes with all kinds of fancy bristle designs when they are new. But the bristles wear away with time and use. And you must know when it is time to replace your toothbrush.

It is unwise to live under the delusion that you are cleaning your teeth when what you are actually doing is generating incompetent friction.

10. Chew cloves

Cloves are anti-inflammatory in nature which makes them ideal to cure gum swellings. But above that cloves have a ton of benefits that are beneficial for your overall oral health.

Many kinds of toothpaste come with elements of clove inside them but is always a good idea to chew a couple of them once in a while to avoid dental problems like cavities and plaque.

11. Don’t brush vigorously

Vigorous brushing of teeth or overbrushing can be bad for oral health. Overbrushing can lead to abrasions in your teeth and can also cause teeth erosion.

You might start having sensitive teeth that will make you cringe with pain each time you drink or eat something too cold or too hot.

Apply only the amount of pressure that is appropriate. Also, remember that you cannot fight teeth bacteria physically.

12. Clean your tongue

Your tongue is the most powerful muscle in your body and its cleanliness is a major part of your oral hygiene.

There are multiple kinds of tongue cleaners – some made of plastic and some of steel. While low quality steel gets rusty with time the plastic tongue cleaners last longer and does their job well. Choose the one that suits you but make sure you use them regularly. Cleaning your tongue keeps bad breath away.

Final thoughts

All in all, it is imperative that you give serious thought to your dental health and follow the above tips. Regular visits to your dentist will ensure whether you are treating your teeth and gums right.

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