Our Guide to Dental Care

Regular, comprehensive dental care is crucial to a healthy smile. We all know that brushing twice a day, flossing once, and gargling with mouthwash are the essentials of keeping good dental hygiene. However, those things are only the baseline for good oral health. They aren’t the whole story.

To achieve long-lasting oral health, regular maintenance by qualified dental professionals is an important step for a few key reasons. Not only can they clean plaque buildup and spot problems before they become serious, but they are also your best bet for oral health advice.

Instead of asking Reddit, a dental professional you trust should be your go-to source of information for how to keep your smile healthy and beautiful in the years to come. Consider this guide a starting point for learning more about your oral health and thinking of questions to ask your dentist at your next appointment.

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Not All Cleanings are Made Equal

Brushing, flossing, and gargling are the three pillars of good dental hygiene. But would it surprise you to know that most people are doing them wrong? Simply passing a toothbrush over your teeth and throwing in some floss isn’t going to cut it against the onslaught of oral health threats our teeth confront every day.

Consider soda, a drink that 63% of adults report drinking at least once every day. Sodas like Coke and Pepsi have around three-fourths the acid content that battery acid does, and when the sugars mix with our saliva, they form even more acid. This acid wears down tooth enamel, leading to sensitivity, cavities, and eventual decay.

This is just one example of how everyday activities are constant threats to our long-term oral health, which is why how you brush and floss is just as important as doing it.

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How to Brush Properly

Brushing properly means brushing for long enough and addressing each side of each tooth. The two-minute suggestion that dentists give, one minute on top and one on bottom, is a good baseline suggestion. But time is not the only factor.

You can ensure that the two minutes are well-spent by thinking about your technique. A soft-bristled, well-reviewed mechanical toothbrush is a great investment for long-lasting oral health because it can clean more optimally than you can with a normal brush. The ironic thing is that people with normal toothbrushes often brush too hard rather than too lightly. The precious enamel we all want to protect can be damaged by too much pressure, which a good mechanical toothbrush regulates on its own.

Next, you have to make sure you’re getting to every side of each tooth. To do this, try angling the toothbrush parallel to the angle of your tooth arch, especially on the upper back teeth, which are the ones most commonly missed. Don’t spend the whole two minutes on the same four teeth!

Another thing to keep in mind is that sugar and plaque can accumulate on your tongue and palette as well. Failing to regularly brush these other areas can lead to bad breath and other potential problems like thrush, which is a yeast infection on the tongue and cheeks. Remember to buy high-quality toothpaste that contains fluoride and avoid brands that include abrasives to help whiten your teeth. Unless recommended by your dentist, these can be too rough on some people’s teeth.

Finally, you should aim to replace your toothbrush (or head in the case of mechanical ones) every 3-6 months. Over time, a used toothbrush becomes worn and damaged. It might stop cleaning properly or even worse – it might start damaging your teeth and gums. To extend the life of your toothbrush, always rinse it before and after use. If you get sick at any point, you should replace it early to avoid brushing with your germs.

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How to Floss Properly

Every night, you should use dental floss to address the area between your teeth where your toothbrush can’t reach. This is where food debris and sugars build up and form plaque and tartar, eventually leading to cavities. We all know this.

Yet despite knowing it, many people only floss once between each tooth. They don’t realize that the area between your teeth has two sides, one on either side of the gum. Food can get trapped on both sides, so it's important to go in at an angle with each flossing motion, once toward the tooth on the right and then again toward the tooth on the left.

While brushing first and flossing second is more common, research supports the reverse. By flossing first, you will remove the most stubborn food debris and allow the fluoride in your toothpaste to reach more of your gums.

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How to Gargle Properly

In addition to brushing and flossing, gargling is a crucial aspect of maintaining high oral hygiene. But you still have to do it right, and for that, the first step is a high-quality mouthwash that contains fluoride. You should swish it around for 30-60 seconds and spit (don’t swallow). Ideally, you would do this before flossing as this will help with your fluoride retention.

Another tip for this step of your oral health routine is to invest in a Waterpik or similar device, also known as a water flosser. While these devices should not replace flossing, they could replace gargling. Pouring the mouthwash in the basin with a little water and water-flossing with the mixture can help you penetrate hard-to-reach areas, making your flossing even more effective.

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Keep Visiting Your Dentist

Even when you do everything else right, your dentist is still your best ally in the fight for long-lasting oral health. You shouldn’t neglect your twice-yearly dental cleanings and once-yearly X-rays, as these will help your dentist stay on top of any diseases or other problems. When spotted early, most dental issues are easy to treat. By contrast, the longer they remain untreated, the more difficult (and costly) they are to fix. 

Dentists are also great sources of dietary advice – another aspect of managing a healthy smile in the long term. They can help you figure out gaps in your diet based on your X-rays, such as too much sugar or not enough calcium. Green, leafy vegetables, yogurt, cheese, and almonds are other go-to foods for tooth health. 

They can also help you add additional devices to your oral health arsenal if they feel that you need them. These could include interdental cleaners, tongue scrapers, and more. Ask your dentist about your oral health routine and see if they can give you any tailored advice about how you can improve your situation, especially if you experience a lot of issues with cavities or oral infections. They can help!

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Oral Health is Health

Taking care of your body can do wonders for your teeth. The reverse is also true. Good oral hygiene removes dangerous bacteria from your body, helps maintain healthy saliva flow, which impacts digestion, and more. Healthy hydration, for instance, is crucial to overall health in addition to being just the thing for healthy teeth and gums.

Oppositely, smoking can cause problems with oral health in addition to the other problems it causes for overall health. Gum disease, tooth decay, bad breath, oral cancer, or just simple staining are all potential issues that can plague your smile if you still smoke.

Our dental implant specialists can help you explore your situation so that you can optimize your oral health, outside and in. And if circumstances have made it necessary, our tooth replacement options can help you smile with confidence again. To schedule your appointment with one of our Naples dentists and get a professional consultation on your oral health situation, give us a call today or book an appointment online.