Oral Health information to help you achieve a happy, healthy smile…
Achieving a happy, healthy smile
Daily cleaning of the teeth and mouth is essential to ensure the long-term health of your teeth and gums. In order to maintain a beautiful smile, you must look after your teeth and gums on a regular basis.
Importance of oral hygiene
Did you know that you are at a greater risk of heart disease and a stroke if you dental health is not maintained?
Research shows that poor oral health can contribute to the development of heart disease and increase the risk of stroke. It can also pose a serious threat to those with health problems such as diabetes, respiratory disease or osteoporosis.
Poor oral hygiene can also lead to gum disease, or Gingivitis, which can cause Periodontitis if not treated by your dentist. Periodontitis involves an inflammation of the gums and bone loss, and can also lead to teeth loss if untreated.
Remember to clean your teeth correctly to help remove bacterial plaque, leaving a clean tooth surface. Brushing and flossing your teeth helps you to maintain a healthy mouth.
Is it right for you?
Maintaining good oral hygiene is important for everyone to ensure healthy teeth and overall well being and vitality. It is recommended that you visit your dentist every 6 months to achieve this.
What’s involved?
What will be covered in your oral hygiene check up:
- Evaluation of the health of your gums
- Scaling and polishing of the teeth
- Instructions on correct tooth and gum care
- Application of decay preventing agents
- dental x-rays where required
Basic Brushing Tips
It is important to take the time to brush thoroughly with a recommended toothpaste every day. We recommend the following method to help maintain dental health and help get rid of plaque:
- Move the brush back and forth in short, semi-circle strokes several times.
- Brush the outer surfaces of each tooth, top and bottom, keeping the bristles angled against your gum
- Use the same method on the inside surfaces of all the teeth, still using short back and forth strokes.
- You must also clean the inside surfaces of the front teeth by tilting the brush vertically and make several gentle up and down strokes with the front part of the brush
- You should not forget your tongue, brushing it will help freshen your breath and clean your mouth by removing bacteria.
Basic Flossing Tips
An essential part of your routine, flossing removes plaque from between the teeth that brushing may miss.
- Wind roughly 20cm of floss around middle fingers of each hand. Hold each end of the floss between your thumbs and index fingers, leaving about 2cm to 3cm of length in between. You should use your thumbs to direct the floss between your upper teeth
- Keeping the length of floss nice and firm between fingers, use index fingers to direct the floss between the lower teeth.
- Gently guide the floss between the teeth by using a zigzag motion. It is important to remember not snap the floss between your teeth but using a smooth and flowing motion around each side of the tooth.
- Slide the floss up and down against your tooth surface and under the gum.
How often should I visit the dentist?
It is recommended that you visit the dentist every 6 months to ensure your oral health is maintained.
I have bad breath, how can I get rid of it?
Having a healthy mouth results in fresh breath.
Bad breath can affect those nearest and dearest to us and can quite often cause problems in relationships. Worse yet, a person with bad breath is normally unaware they have it until someone tells them. Bacteria, plain and simple, is the culprit. Not surprisingly our mouth contains millions of bacteria and when they get out of control they can quite simply get on the nose.
Plaque, tartar, gum disease, tooth decay, dentures, and your tongue are all places where bacteria can thrive, so much so that all the breath fresheners and mouth washes on the supermarket shelf won’t remedy the cause. They can only camouflage it temporarily – usually for only a few hours.
- Bad breath caused by tartar, gum disease and tooth decay can only be remedied at the dentist by having regular scale and cleans and check ups.
- Brush your tongue. One study estimates 50% of oral bacteria can be eliminated by brushing your tongue with a soft brush every day. Some of us call it the “bottom of a cocky cage” syndrome.
- If you wear dentures anything less than pristine clean will generally contribute to bad breath. Make sure that you clean them thoroughly and regularly using Sterodent or something similar.
- If you are a chronic “mouth-breather” also beware! More dry mouth means more bad breath.
My tooth was cracked, what should I do?
You should visit the dentist immediately. Getting to a dentist within 30 minutes can make the difference between saving and losing a tooth.
My tooth was chipped, what should I do?
You should visit the dentist as soon as possible. Keep the chipped part of the tooth and take it with you when you come into the dental practice.
How Often Should I Change My Toothbrush And Why?
The life span of the average toothbrush is about 2-3 months. So change your toothbrush at the beginning of each season (summer, autumn, winter, spring). Toothbrushes just simply wear out after all the repetitive use morning, noon and night. The bristles breakdown and lose their effectiveness in getting into all those tricky corners around your teeth.
The other reason to change them regularly is that they are a breeding ground for germs, fungus and bacteria which after a while can build up to significant levels. They can also spread cold and flu viruses through families when stored together, infecting adjacent toothbrushes.
Toothbrushes also harbour the little bugs that cause cold sores and ulcers. If you are susceptible to ulcers and cold sores you should also change your toothbrush more regularly to avoid re-infecting other parts of the mouth and possibly other members of the family.
After using a toothbrush, shake it vigorously under tap water and store it in an upright position allowing it to dry out. Try and keep your toothbrush from touching others when it is stored.
