The Importance Of Maintaining Your Oral Hygiene

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The Importance Of Maintaining Your Oral Hygiene

Maintaining your oral hygiene boosts your confidence and health. By taking care of your mouth, teeth, and gums, you are helping keep diseases at bay. Not to mention, have you thought about how important your smile is? Upon first meeting someone, you will first notice their appearance. As a result, you would notice if someone’s teeth are missing or yellow. Therefore, to make a great first impression at a job interview or even attract that special someone, you must take care of your oral hygiene. There is more to your oral hygiene than just brushing and flossing your teeth! Not only does it boost your gum and tooth condition, but your overall health as well.

Here are 6 reasons why you need to maintain your oral hygiene.

Your smile

What does your smile look like? Take a moment to look at yourself in the mirror with a big toothy smile. Do you have a warm smile with pearly white teeth? Or, are your teeth stained because of your black coffee addiction? Your first impression relies on your appearance, and this includes your smile.

You do not want to sit in an interview where the interviewer is too focused on your teeth stains instead of what you are saying. Your smile is a memorable feature, so you must take good care of it. Albeit, the solution can’t be to stop drinking coffee, especially since many people rely on coffee to wake them up in the morning.

Nor is the solution to not smile, considering that smiling is a great way to show people you are friendly, happy, and positive. Instead, you can start caring for your smile by brushing your teeth at least twice a day, flossing, and eating a healthy diet, leading to the next point.

Maintaining a clean & fresh breath

Maintaining your oral hygiene means keeping your breath smelling clean and fresh. Talking to a friend, date, or co-worker are perfect examples of times you do not want your breath to smell. There are mints, gums, and mouthwashes that will help keep your breath smelling fresh. However, these methods are temporary and will not keep your breath smelling fresh in the long run. In the same way, your smile contributes to your overall appearance and confidence, and so does the smell coming out of your mouth. You do not want that potential interviewer to take a step back or make a face after taking a whiff of your breath while talking. Avoid this situation at all costs.

A tip to remember for maintaining clean breath is to watch your diet. What you eat and how often you eat will affect your oral health. Candy, cookies, soda, chips, and other junk food can stick to your teeth and contribute to your bad breath. Vegetables will contribute to your dental health, though it would be wise to avoid garlic before an important meeting. While there are various other healthy food options, some will still require you to brush your teeth after, such as after eating a particularly potent cheese.

Keeping dental diseases at bay

Good oral hygiene can keep dental diseases at bay. Gum diseases and tooth decay occur as a result of your oral hygiene practices. You must eat a healthy and balanced diet, brush your teeth, floss, and visit your dentist for teeth cleaning to prevent dental diseases. Refusing to do so will increase your chances of experiencing periodontal disease, an infection of tissues that support your teeth. Your hygienist can track your gum’s health before this disease occurs, as they will routinely check your teeth and gum’s well-being with pocket measurements.

How does oral health affect overall health?

Oral health and Overall health go hand-in-hand.  Good oral health is a reflection of your overall health. Good oral health can help control and/or lessen the risk of heart disease, diabetes, pregnancy, and other conditions. It can also improve self-esteem because healthy teeth and gums are essential to people’s feelings about themselves.

Other benefits of good oral health include:

  • Avoiding gum disease, cavities, and other oral issues.
  • Avoiding expensive medical procedures to repair the damage caused by gum disease, cavities, and other oral issues.
  • Avoiding bad breath.
  • Looking healthier overall because you’re taking care of yourself!

The mouth is a gateway to your body’s systems. That’s why keeping your teeth and gums strong, healthy, and disease-free is important. The bacteria in your mouth can enter your bloodstream through tiny cuts in your gums or the inside of your cheeks. These germs travel throughout your body through the bloodstream.

Studies have shown that people with poor oral hygiene are more likely to develop heart disease, stroke, and kidney disease. They are also at greater risk of developing cancer and diabetes. Bacteria from the mouth can enter the bloodstream through tiny cuts or sores in the gums. This can cause serious health problems if left untreated.

The bacteria associated with these diseases are periodontal pathogens (a group of germs living in your mouth). These pathogens include:

  • Porphyromonas gingivalis (Porphyromonas) – causes gum disease
  • Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) – causes redness & swelling around teeth
  • Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) – causes redness & swelling around teeth

For example:

A toothache from an infected tooth can cause swelling and inflammation of nearby tissues. This inflammation may spread to other body parts (for example, arthritis). The infection may also spread into surrounding bone tissue (osteomyelitis). This can lead to bone loss that affects dental health, overall quality of life, and general health.

Oral health is a vital part of your overall health. It’s important to take care of your oral hygiene to be healthy throughout your life, avoid expensive medical procedures and maintain a quality of life that you enjoy.

Oral health also helps with longevity and avoiding premature death in many cases. Some studies show that poor oral hygiene may increase the risk of heart disease or stroke by over 50%. If this isn’t enough motivation, consider how much money it costs when something goes wrong with our teeth! The average cost per tooth extraction is around $1,000 (and up). A root canal will cost anywhere between $400-$900 depending on where you live and how much work needs to be done on it; however, these procedures are often necessary because people don’t take care of their teeth properly, leading us back again…

Taking care of your oral hygiene is important to be healthy. Doing so will give you better overall health, a higher quality of life, and an increased chance of living longer. You won’t need expensive medical procedures to repair gum disease or cavities because they will not develop in the first place! Also, another benefit is having fresher breath because bad breath comes from bacteria build-up, which can cause serious health problems if left untreated.

Improving overall health

Looking after your oral hygiene goes beyond the impression you make and the health of your teeth. Good oral hygiene can affect your overall health, as a healthy mouth and a healthy body are linked. While your self-image and confidence are affected by the look and smell of your teeth, other parts of you are equally affected. For instance, gum diseases can lead to other health problems, including heart disease, strokes, and infections in other parts of the body. 

Your beautiful smile and oral hygiene matter, and you must take action to maintain your health early on. The steps towards taking care of your oral health are simple; they must be incorporated as part of your everyday routine.

Remember to brush your teeth twice a day, floss, eat a balanced diet and visit your dentist several times a year. Do not lose your chances of getting that job because your breath smells. Nor should you let gum disease fester when you could have picked up the phone and booked a dentist appointment months ago. Take the necessary preventative measures and maintain healthy oral hygiene at all times.

Your Dentist’s Role In Attaining Good Oral Hygiene 

As mentioned, dental health and overall health are directly connected. Taking care of oral health involves the expert intervention of a qualified and experienced dentist. Dentists play a vital role in improving oral hygiene by providing preventive care, early diagnosis and treatment of oral diseases, information about benefits like Medicaid, and education about oral health. 

A dentist provides preventive care by cleaning teeth, removing plaque and tartar, and educating patients about proper oral hygiene techniques. Dentists can detect early signs of gum disease and other oral health problems, preventing them from becoming more serious. 

But not all dentists are the same. Finding a good dentist is important for your overall health and well-being. You can read reviews from other patients, learn about the dentist’s experience and training, and see what services they offer. By taking the time to interview different dentists, you can find a dependable dentist who can provide you with excellent oral care.

Conclusion 

Good oral hygiene is important for many good reasons. It prevents tooth decay and gum disease, maintains fresh breath, and improves overall health. In addition, you’ll feel more confident about your appearance, which helps boost your self-esteem in your daily encounters, at work, and in everything you do.

Maggie Hammond

maggiehammond57@gmail.com

Maggie Hammond is a retired nurse and freelance writer, exploring and writing in the U.S. in retirement. An advocate for public health and nursing qualifications, she feels passionate about raising awareness of the current strain on public health organizations.

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