You’ve probably heard quite a few oral health tips, whether they came from your parents or from a video you saw online. Thanks to the Internet, oral health advice is available to everyone. However, with so much information available at your fingertips, it can be hard to tell which oral health facts are actually important for maintaining a healthy smile and which ones are not.
In this guide, our team will tell you everything you need to know about the top 10 best practices for a healthy and beautiful smile. Here are 10 best practices for a healthy smile.
Best Practices for a Healthy Smile
Floss Daily
Flossing is often overlooked. However, it’s just as important as brushing your teeth. Flossing is also one of the easiest and most effective ways to remove plaque from places your toothbrush cannot reach. Without flossing, you may one day find yourself having to deal with dental problems like gum diseases or even cavities.
The American Dental Association (AMA) recommends that you clean between your teeth at least once a day. There’s no strict rule about what time of the day you should floss, as long as you can find a way to fit it into your schedule.
Give Up Smoking
It doesn’t matter if you’re an occasional smoker or a pack-per-day kind of smoker. The negative impacts of smoking on your oral health are all the same. Smoking is one of the leading causes of dry mouth, which increases your chances of getting bad breath, gum disease, cavities, and tooth loss.
Understandably, quitting smoking can be difficult, so going cold turkey may not be the most effective way to do it. Instead, you can wean yourself off of it slowly and learn how to avoid triggers that may cause you to smoke, such as certain social events or foods.
Keep Your Mouth Hydrated
A dry mouth is one of the leading causes of bad breath. Yes, you heard that right. That’s why drinking water is so important.
Water stimulates saliva synthesis in your mouth, which neutralizes the acids produced by bacteria in plaque. In addition, keeping your mouth hydrated washes out bacteria and food particles that may stick to your teeth.
Watch What You Eat
Diet is often overlooked when it comes to oral health. A healthy diet is not just important for your overall health, it’s also very important for your oral health and the way your smile looks.
A simple rule of thumb is to avoid foods that contain too much sugar, carbonated drinks, and ingredients that cause dry mouth and tooth discoloration. Replacing carbonated drinks with sparkling water is just one of the many ways you can make your diet a bit healthier.
Leafy greens like spinach are great for your oral health since they are full of calcium and other vitamins that are beneficial for your enamel. Apples are a great source of natural fluoride and stimulate saliva production, hence, they help keep teeth clean.
Limit Your Coffee, Tea, and Alcohol Intake
Certain drinks have been proven to stain your teeth and prevent you from maintaining a healthy smile. Tea, coffee, and alcohol consumption are some of the most popular drinks that cause teeth staining. Coffee and tea in particular contain a considerable amount of sugar, which turns into acid in the mouth.
When this happens, the acid can attack the teeth’s enamel, which leads to erosion and, ultimately, decay. Alcohol, on the other hand, has the potential to cause dry mouth, which can also cause gum disease or tooth decay.
Teeth sensitivity to hot or cold foods or drinks is one of the primary symptoms of teeth erosion. If you notice this type of tooth pain, then you may want to think about how much tea, coffee, or alcohol you’re drinking.
Don’t Forget Your Tongue
Cleaning your tongue is just as important as brushing your teeth. The tongue is home to all sorts of bacteria, which can manifest into oral diseases if not cleaned properly. These bacteria are responsible for bad breath, gum diseases, and tooth decay.
You can effectively clean your tongue by brushing it with a soft-bristled toothbrush or by scraping it with a soft, flexible tongue-scraping device. If you haven’t made cleaning your tongue part of your daily oral care routine, then it’s time to add it to your to-do list.
Visit our Dentist for a Dental Check-Up in Pineville, NC
Dental checkups aren’t just for getting your teeth cleaned. Regular dental checkups help you detect dental problems before they become severe. When you detect oral health problems early on, you save yourself time and money that would have been spent on additional dental treatments to correct an issue.
Limit Your Sugar Intake
The fact that sugar is bad for your teeth is common knowledge. However, the problem isn’t just the amount of sugar you have but also how long the sugar stays on your teeth. Sugar attracts mouth bacteria, which then break the sugar down into acid. This acid can destroy tooth enamel and eventually cause tooth decay.
Improve Your Smile With Professional Dental Services in Pineville, NC
One of the most effective ways to get a radiant and healthy smile is by checking out our list of professional dental services. If you feel self-conscious about the color of your teeth because of tooth discoloration, our dental team offers professional teeth cleaning and teeth whitening in Pineville.
If you have misaligned or crooked teeth, we also offer Invisalign. If you have one or more missing teeth, our dental implants can provide you with a long-lasting, natural-looking tooth replacement solution.
Get Help for Dental Problems as Early as Possible
If you want clean, healthy teeth, then you need to treat dental problems early on to avoid more serious oral health complications in the future. Besides serious oral health problems, untreated dental diseases have been linked to diabetes, heart diseases, respiratory diseases, and more.
Get a Healthy Smile in Pineville Today
Are you looking for personalized, professional dental services for a better smile? Contact us today for professional dental services in Pineville. We’re always happy to help!
