7 Ways to Keep Your Teeth Healthy
The health status of your teeth has a significant meaning to your overall health. The hard outer coating of the teeth known as enamel is the first victim of an attack by bacteria accumulated from the foods we eat. Over and over, bacterial layers (known as dental plaque) form on your teeth and produce acids that can be harmful to the enamel. The result is cavities and other dental diseases.
This points out the need to keep your teeth healthy at all times. At the very basic, brushing your teeth thoroughly is the first and easiest routine to taking care of your dental health. However, there are a number of things we can do to keep our teeth healthy. Here are some of them.
Table of Contents
A Healthy Diet Is Important
Whereas a healthy diet is important for our overall bodies, it plays a key role in maintaining our dental health. Foods such as vegetables, wholegrain, proteins such as milk, and dairy products can all help to improve keep your teeth healthy.
Experts recommend that we take in small amounts of foods and beverages high in fat and sugar. As noted by Brisbane Smiles Dentist, sugars are particularly harmful to dental health and can lead to faster deterioration both in children and adults.
Avoid Smoking
Smoking causes stains on gums, thereby exposing the smoker to gum diseases. Chemicals released by tobacco products also affect the flow of saliva in the mouth, thus allowing oral bacteria to stick to the teeth and gums much easily.
If this kind of material on gums and enamel is not removed regularly, it can harden into calculus or tartar. This layer will need a professional to help clean up. It is estimated that smokers are far more likely to develop gum disease. Some could be so bad that they cause teeth to fall out.
Limit acidic drinks Significantly
On average, soft drinks such as yogurt and citric fruits are harmless and are normally consumed with ease, sometimes several times a day. However, overuse of these products can cause long-lasting and sometimes permanent damage to teeth. This comes mainly in the form of tooth erosion.
Acids found in soft drinks and foods break the tooth surfaces and cause damage to the enamel. As the damage progress, the enamel may lose shape and color, thus exposing the dentin (the tissue forming the core of each tooth).
After consuming acidic foods and beverages, it is advisable to brush your teeth at least 20 minutes after consumption.
Avoid Exposing Teeth to Hard Tasks
The tooth is quite a hard surface and can take up some very difficult tasks. However, you expose your teeth to immense danger and sometimes irreversible effects when you use them to crack nuts, remove bottle tops or tear off packaging material. This may cause chipping on your teeth and in the worst cases break your teeth.
These are seemingly harmless activities but repeatedly expose your teeth to a lot of harm.
Wear a Mouth Guard
Wearing a mouth guard is particularly important for sportsmen. The boxing world provides a perfect example as players are required to wear a mouth guard, effectively protecting them from knocking off their teeth as well as biting off the tongue.
If you are engaging in demanding tasks of such nature, it is good to care for the teeth to wear a mouthguard. While at it, it is essential to consult a professional to help you pick the most appropriate and well-fitting mouth guard for you.
Flossing and Interdental Cleaning
In common cases, most people do a general mouthwash without giving concern to the spaces between the teeth. It is in these spaces where bacteria and food remains are harbored and eventually cause cavities and gum diseases.
Cleaning between your teeth with an interdental cleaner such as floss helps to get rid of plaque(the sticky film that forms on the teeth.)
Flossing might be an unpleasant activity but has several benefits to dental health when done appropriately.
See a Dentist Regularly
Perhaps this is a recommendation that requires little emphasis, yet it is one that is popularly ignored. Hardly do patients go to a dentist unless they experience some form of pain, bloodstains, or changes in their oral health. The downside of this ignorance is that diseases will have advanced significantly by the time they are diagnosed.
Visiting a dentist regularly will help you gain insight into the overall health of your mouth. For this reason, it is crucial to visit your dentist on a regular basis, either through scheduled or impromptu arrangements.
Conclusion
Taking good care of the teeth is a lifetime activity that is often undertaken casually, yet has overwhelming importance. On the other hand, it can be done easily, with consistency, and with little monetary expenses.
Good oral health plays a vital role in overall bodily health. There are several basic daily routines that can significantly improve the health of your teeth if done appropriately.
