Your dentist works to help ensure that your teeth remain healthy and free of decay. They offer restorative and preventive care to protect your oral health.
Nevertheless, there are also measures that your dentist would like you to take at home to help keep your teeth in great shape. Here are a few of them.
Minimize Your Consumption of Simple Sugars
The primary food of many of the harmful oral bacteria in the mouth is simple sugars. This is important because, during the digestive process of the oral microbes, they release bacterial acids as by-products. These acids dissolve the minerals that make up the tooth enamel, leading to the development of cavities.
By reducing the food available to the microbes, bacterial acids and subsequently tooth decay can be diminished.
Rinse With and Sip Water Throughout the Day
Water can help ensure that your mouth stays hydrated. Saliva mainly consists of water, and it is used by the body to rinse away oral bacteria and particles of food. In addition, copious amounts of saliva can help dilute oral acids, rendering them less harmful.
Rinsing your mouth with water after meals and snacks can also help keep your mouth clean when a full brushing session cannot be performed.
If You Don't Like Flossing, Try a Water Irrigator
Cavities can develop anywhere on the surface of the teeth, including the sides next to the interdental spaces. Although a toothbrush can clean most of the natural crown, the bristles may not be able to effectively reach between the teeth to clear away plaque and edible debris. Thus, flossing is important.
Still, many people fail to floss because it can seem cumbersome. Some people feel that they just do not have the dexterity necessary to floss regularly and effectively, so they may abandon the practice altogether.
Oral irrigators can be used in lieu of flossing with string loss. The irrigators produce a concentrated stream of water that can dislodge particles of food and plaque from between the teeth and along the gum line. The water may even help clear away plaque from just beneath the surface of the gums.
Some irrigators include controls that allow you to increase or decrease the strength of the water flow. They may also have special features that can alter the pulsations of the water.
To learn more ways that you can care for your teeth at home, schedule a consultation with a dentist in your local area.
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