Maintaining optimal oral health is paramount for your smile, self-esteem, and overall health. You can lower the frequency of dental appointments by integrating preventive dentistry techniques like flossing, brushing, eating healthy foods, using mouthwash, and drinking water into your daily routine. The routine can lower the need for frequent medical attention by preventing tooth loss, cavities, gum disease, bone loss in the jaw, and an increased risk of systemic diseases. This blog explores different practices that can reduce your dental visits.
Brushing Your Teeth
The American Dental Association recommends brushing your teeth using fluoride toothpaste for two minutes twice a day.
Brushing helps you remove plaque and food particles from the teeth. Plaque is a sticky film that forms on teeth and contains bacteria. After eating a sugary snack or your meal, the bacteria in the plaque create acids that destroy your tooth enamel (outer tooth covering) and could cause dental cavities.
Over time, plaque that remains on your teeth hardens into tartar, making your teeth more challenging to clean. Tartar accumulation on your gums could result in inflammation that leads to gum disease.
Avoid brushing immediately after drinking acidic beverages or eating acidic foods to preserve your teeth and oral health. They include citrus fruits, juices, sour candies, sports drinks, and soda. Their acid softens your teeth enamel, and brushing immediately after drinking or eating anything acidic can remove enamel from the teeth. You can wait for thirty minutes before brushing. By then, saliva will have washed away the acid, and your enamel will be hardened.
You can consider using a battery-powered or an electric toothbrush if any of the following applies to you:
- You have challenges holding your toothbrush
- You wear braces
- You suffer from arthritis
These toothbrushes are easier to use than manual toothbrushes.
Remember to brush your tongue. The tongue can harbor bacteria if not cleaned regularly. To clean your tongue effectively, you can use either a toothbrush or a tongue scraper.
Flossing is a Vital Element of Your Dental Care
Even the most effective toothbrush cannot thoroughly clean spaces between teeth. You should floss daily to remove plaque and food particles between your teeth.
Plaque that is not removed by flossing or brushing could harden into calculus or tartar. After tartar accumulation, only a qualified dentist can remove it. However, flossing once daily could stop plaque buildup.
Effective flossing tools include traditional dental floss, dental picks, water flossers, and interdental brushes. To determine which tool is ideal, consult your healthcare provider and try various options to determine what works for you. However, choose a product with the ADA Seal of Acceptance to ensure you pick something effective and safe.
Flossing should not be painful. Flossing aggressively can damage tissues between the teeth, while flossing gently can leave plaque or food particles behind. While you can experience discomfort when flossing, with practice, you will know the right amount of pressure to exert. If flossing still hurts, consult your dentist.
Quitting Smoking
Tobacco use has both long-term and immediate impacts (smoker’s mouth) on oral health that can increase the frequency of your dental visits. These effects include the following:
- Teeth discoloration and staining — Tobacco has nicotine and tar that can change the color of your teeth to yellow within a short duration. Typically, long-term smokers develop brown and deep stains that are challenging to remove with brushing, requiring professional dental cleaning and affecting their smile’s appearance.
- Halitosis (bad breath) — The chemicals in tobacco remain in the lungs and mouth, leading to an unpleasant, persistent foul odor. Smoking also affects saliva production; saliva neutralizes the odor and cleanses your mouth. A dry mouth permits bacteria to thrive, causing bad breath.
- Experiencing complications after dental treatments — Smoking causes delayed recovery after dental treatment and increases the chances of developing infections, reducing the success rate of many treatments. For instance, your dental implants are less likely to be successful because of impaired bone recovery and integration.
- Oral cancer —Tobacco products have carcinogenic substances that can result in cell mutation, causing oral cancer.
- Periodontal disease and cavities — Chemicals in tobacco lower blood flow to your gums, affecting your ability to fight infections and recover. Smokers are more likely to experience rapidly progressing and severe gum disease, resulting in bone loss, tooth loss, cavities, and gum recession if not treated early.
Using Mouthwash
Also called oral rinse, mouthwash reaches areas your toothbrush cannot reach. Incorporating mouthwash into your daily oral routine promotes optimal oral health.
There are two forms of mouthwash, namely:
- Therapeutic mouthwashes — They have active ingredients like essential oils, cetylpyridinium chloride, chlorhexidine, and fluoride that assist in reducing the risk of developing gingivitis, cavities, plaque, and halitosis.
- Cosmetic mouthwashes — Cosmetic mouthwashes temporarily regulate bad breath and leave a pleasant taste in your mouth, but do not necessarily contribute to good, long-term oral health.
Using mouthwash offers numerous benefits, including the following:
- The ingredients in oral rinse can prevent plaque buildup, reducing the likelihood of developing gingivitis
- Prevents tooth cavities — Mouthwashes with fluoride can strengthen your tooth enamel and prevent dental cavities.
- It regulates bad breath, offering your mouth a clean and fresh feeling.
When you should use an oral rinse depends on the form of your mouthwash and your routine. Most people prefer rinsing their mouths with mouthwash after flossing and brushing. It can remove loosened food particles and offer additional cleaning. It particularly benefits patients with dental bridges and crowns or those undergoing dental implant treatment.
You should do the following to use your mouthwash effectively:
- Comply with the manufacturer’s instructions on duration and quantity. Swish around 20 ml of oral rinse for thirty seconds to one minute.
- Do not dilute your mouthwash using water; it lowers its effectiveness.
- To maximize the mouthwash’s benefits, avoid rinsing your mouth with water, drinking, or eating for thirty minutes after using the oral rinse.
Effective use of mouthwash requires using it consistently and regularly.
Eating Healthy Foods
Nutrition and diet are key influencers of oral health and can impact the development and progression of oral health conditions like periodontal disease, tooth erosion, and caries.
Here are healthy foods to incorporate into your diet for optimal oral health:
- Phosphorus-rich foods like beans, nuts, dairy products, lean meat, and fish play a significant role in your tooth enamel formation and work together with calcium to promote your teeth’s durability.
- Calcium-rich foods — Calcium is vital for forming and maintaining healthy teeth. It is found in green vegetables, fortified edibles, and dairy products.
- Vitamin D — You can obtain vitamin D from fortified dairy products, sunlight, and fatty fish. Vitamin D assists in the absorption of phosphorus and calcium.
- Crunchy vegetables and fruits for natural teeth cleaning — Apples stimulate gums and promote saliva production, which prevents tooth decay. Carrots have keratins that impede tooth decay and remove plaque from the teeth. The fibrous strands in celery act as natural floss, eliminating bacteria and food particles from teeth. It also has high water content that neutralizes acids in your mouth, maintaining a healthy pH.
- Vitamin C — You can find it in vegetables and citrus fruits. Vitamin C keeps the connective tissues in the gums healthy.
- Consider probiotics — Probiotics aid in maintaining oral microbiota balance. You can find probiotics in supplement form and yogurt.
Foods detrimental to your teeth, jaws, and gums include the following:
- Sugary beverages and foods — Sugar feeds on bacteria in the mouth, producing acids that erode tooth enamel
- Sticky foods that cling to your teeth and increase the likelihood of tooth decay.
- Acidic foods like coffee and citrus fruits can erode your enamel over time.
- Starchy foods
Wearing a Mouth Guard
A mouth guard is a dental appliance that covers teeth. A medical practitioner can recommend mouth guards for different reasons, including the following:
- You have bruxism
- You have TMJ dysfunction
- You suffer from obstructive sleep apnea
- You play sports like boxing, soccer, hockey, or football
- You engage in activities with a high fall risk, like ice skating, biking, or gymnastics
- You snore
There are three (3) kinds of mouth guards, classified according to their purpose, namely:
- Mouth guards for sports — They reduce the risk of avulsed or chipped teeth when engaging in sports-related activities.
- Mouth guards for grinding teeth — They protect teeth from the impact of bruxism. While they can also lower the effects of TMJ dysfunctions, their effectiveness varies, and your dentist should evaluate it. While you can put them on at any time of the day, most people prefer wearing them at night.
- Sleep apnea and snoring mouth guard — Patients with obstructive sleep apnea or chronic snoring can benefit from this category of mouth guard. The mouth guard shifts and repositions the jaw, keeping your airway open while asleep.
How often you should wear your mouth guard depends on why you require it. You should wear it every night to treat sleep apnea, snoring, or teeth grinding. However, to safeguard your teeth during sporting activities, you should wear it during all games and practices.
Visiting Your Dentist Twice a Year
Visiting your dentist regularly can be challenging because you are anxious about visiting the healthcare provider or believe the visits are expensive. However, visiting your dentist every six (6) months is key to keeping your dental appointments minimal. Here is why:
- Your dentist can detect any oral health issue early before it becomes severe — The physician can see a warning sign that you might not notice on your own. Most dental conditions are initially painless, and flossing and brushing are insufficient to prevent every issue. Regular dental visits can lessen or avoid the impact of periodontitis, enamel loss, and cavities. If left untreated, these conditions can result in more severe problems that can be costly and painful.
- Screen for neck, head, and oral cancer — During the routine dental visit, your dentist will also look for signs of head, neck, and mouth cancer. The earlier the dentist can detect oral cancer symptoms, the better the opportunity to receive adequate treatment with the best possible results.
- Save you money in the long run with timely treatments — When your dentist identifies and treats a dental issue early, it saves you the financial and physical pain of prolonged and more complex treatment in the future. For example, filling a cavity is more reasonable than extracting your tooth or undergoing root canal therapy.
While seeing your dentist after six months is the rule of thumb, a patient’s health situation determines how often they should visit a dental health provider. Some people should see a dentist more frequently because they have conditions that increase the risk of oral health challenges. Regular treatment and monitoring can keep individuals in optimal oral health. These individuals include the following:
- Individuals with gum disease, tooth cavities, or those with a history of these ailments
- People who use tobacco products or drink alcohol regularly
- Patients with a weak immune system
- An individual with chronic diseases like diabetes
- Expectant mothers
Water and Dental Health
Water has many dental benefits, including the following:
- Stimulates saliva production — Saliva is your mouth’s natural defense against tooth decay. Saliva has minerals like calcium and phosphate that assist in your teeth’s mineralization, so they remain healthy and resistant to damage or decay. Drinking water keeps up saliva production.
- Water keeps your mouth clean — Drinking water daily helps maintain good dental hygiene by removing food particles and lowering mouth acidity, which causes plaque and cavities. On the other hand, drinking acidic or sugary beverages like juices and sodas can contribute to the buildup of mouth bacteria and erode your tooth enamel. Most drinks leave traces of unwanted residue in your mouth that can cause cavities.
Contact a Qualified Preventive Dentist Near Me
The thought of visiting a dentist can be dreadful. Luckily, you can reduce the frequency of the appointments with proper preventive practices like brushing, flossing, drinking water, using mouthwash, and eating healthy foods. Good oral hygiene practices and lifestyle adjustments can keep your teeth healthy and your smile elegant and avoid expensive and painful dental procedures. At The Lakewood Dentist, we recognize that preventive dentistry is your first defense against oral health challenges and can encourage you to take a proactive approach to maintaining your oral health. We can educate you on the best dental health practices and offer dental cleanings and examinations. Please contact our office at 562-423-1441 to book your initial appointment.