While people often worry about having clean teeth and a bright smile, we often forget about the importance of maintaining healthy gums. Our gums serve as the foundation for our teeth and if you don’t practice good oral hygiene for both your teeth and gums it could cause severe problems in the future. To prevent gum disease and its symptoms such as bad breath, bleeding gums and even tooth loss, we recommend following the six important steps below.
- Brushing your teeth correctly and regularly
A correct and consistent brushing routine is crucial in maintaining healthy teeth and gums. Ensuring you brush your teeth a least twice a day is one of the best things you can do to reduce the likelihood of gum disease or bad breath. While brushing regularly is crucial, it’s also important you know how to brush correctly. When brushing your teeth, ensure you brush in a gentle circular movement over the front, back and top of your teeth. It’s also recommended to use a high quality or electronic toothbrush. A good oral hygiene routines includes brushing your teeth and tongue every morning and night.
- Floss Daily
While flossing once a day can significantly improve your oral hygiene, many people neglect this important step. Flossing is a quick and simple dental routine which, if paired with brushing twice a day, helps in remove plaque and bacteria. Flossing helps with removing any unwanted plaque and food that can easily get stuck between teeth, if this plaque and food particles remain there they can lead to tartar and hard build-ups of bacteria. To floss correctly, make sure you move the floss in up and down motions below the gum line. Repeat this method on all of your teeth, including the back of the teeth.
- Rinse your mouth with quality, fluoride mouthwash
While mouthwash shouldn’t be replaced with regular brushing and flossing of teeth it is another great way to remove bacteria and plaque from your teeth and mouth. There are two types of mouthwash: therapeutic and cosmetic, both are available over the counter. Using mouthwash can help to eliminate bacteria which is in places that are hard to brush and floss. Pairing a daily mouthwash routine with flossing and brushing your teeth can help give you a complete clean of your teeth and gums. Adding a therapeutic mouthwash to your daily oral care routine can help:
- prevent gum disease
- reduce the speed at which tartar builds up
- reduce the amount of plaque on the teeth
- remove food particles from the mouth
- Minimise sugary foods from your diet
Eating foods that are high in sugar can be dangerous for the health of your teeth and gums, contributing to gum disease and tooth decay. Harsh, sugary foods such as sweets and lollies can contribute to bad oral health. Lollies and toffy can easily get stuck in between your teeth which provide sugar for the bacteria in your mouth to consume, this results in the release of bacterial acids which can cause decay. To reduce this effect we recommend minimising the amount of sugary foods you consume and rinsing your mouth out with water after consuming them (if possible).
- Regular dental check-ups and cleaning
A dental professional can detect early gum signs of gum disease or a bad oral health routine. This makes it extremely important to maintain a schedule with regular visits to your dentist. Other than providing you with expert knowledge a dentist also provides professional cleaning of your teeth, removing unwanted tartar that might have built up in hard to reach places because of plaque. Additionally, if you do have any gum disease or tooth decay a dentist can easily recognise this an offer professional help in resolving the issue.
Having a correct and consistent oral health routine is the key to maintaining healthy gums and teeth. Following these recommendations of brushing twice a day, flossing daily, using mouthwash, minimizing sugary foods, and regular dental check-ups can help keep your mouth clean and protect from gum disease and tooth decay.