It is important to incorporate regular brushing and flossing into your at-home oral care routine. Our 100 Mile House dentists offer advice on how to thoroughly care for your teeth and oral care at home through brushing and flossing as well as the importance of professional exams and cleaning.
In order to help keep your teeth clean and your entire mouth at its healthiest, it is important to keep a routine of complete dental care at home. Keeping regularity scheduled professional cleanings and examinations is an incredibly important part of your oral health care routine, but it is equally important that you brush, floss and continue your oral health care routine on a daily basis at home as well.
At every appointment, your dentist will remind you that brushing and flossing are critical to preventing tooth decay and gum disease. Completing these two tasks daily also help to remove bacteria that lead to plaque and tooth decay, and later progress into gum disease.
Our dentists take the time below to talk about the importance of routine oral health care both at home and in the office and provide some advice on the proper techniques for comprehensive dental care.
Proper Techniques For Brushing & Flossing
These techniques will provide you with the opportunity to be able to keep your mouth clean and healthy for a lifetime.
Clean every surface of each of the teeth in your mouth, including the tongue side, cheek-side and chewing surface. Keep your brush at a 45-degree angle and brush in a sweeping motion. Use a downward sweeping motion for your upper teeth and an upward sweeping motion for your lower teeth. For chewing surfaces only, brush back and forth.
It is recommended that you take the time after eating to brush your teeth for between two to four minutes and ideally wait thirty minutes after you've eaten to begin brushing. We recommend brushing twice a day at a minimum and always before bedtime. You might want to set a timer to ensure your brushing lasts long enough.
You should also take the time to floss at least once a day, preferably right before you go to bed. When you floss, you are dislodging debris and buildup from between your teeth in places you are not able to reach with your toothbrush. Insert the string of floss between two teeth and run it up and down the side of each, pulling it into a "c" shape in both directions. Do this slowly and thoroughly, and ensure your floss between every two teeth.
The Importance of Professional Dental Cleanings & Exams
It is incredibly important to your overall oral health to visit your dentist every six months for a routine examination and professional cleaning. Your dentist has the tools and knowledge required to eliminate plaque and tartar buildup that you won't be able to remove yourself with brushing and flossing.
During these regular visits, your dentist will check for dental issues in their early stages and treat them before they become larger problems.
Oral health issues such as cavities, gum disease and even cysts, tumors and abnormalities are often not noticed by the untrained eye (or even a patient's own eye) in their early stages. This is why it's important to have a dental professional regularly examine your mouth.