Healthy teeth and bright smile are the results of best dental habits. Healthy oral care prevents plaque build-up and cavities which helps to remove gum disease and bad breath. Moreover, managing good dental care can limit the serious dental ailment and maintain healthy teeth.
To know how to care your dental health, you will need to know the basics of your teeth.
What are tooth cavities?
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A tooth cavity also describes as tooth decay which is a hole inside the tooth. This hole sometimes forms deep inside till nerves. These teeth cavities begin small and grow larger over the time.
In most cases, an individual doesn’t know that there is a cavity forming. If you visit your dentist regularly, then it will help to find the tooth decay.
You can prevent cavity problem by maintaining oral hygiene.
You may get the following symptoms during a tooth cavity.
- Tooth pain
- Tooth sensitivity
- Teeth hole
- Stains on teeth
Tooth cavities form due to the following reasons.
- Saliva
- Bacteria
- Food particles
- Acid
What is a sensitive tooth?
Teeth sensitivity is a response to various stimuli such as cold or hot temperature. It also describes as dentin hypersensitivity.
The tooth sensitivity can be temporary become chronic with time. It can impact on one tooth or a group of teeth.
Some individuals have naturally sensitive teeth whereas normal people develop sensitivity due to thin enamel. Tooth enamel is an outer part of the tooth to protection. In most of the cases tooth enamel worn down due to the following reasons.
- Hard toothbrush
- Teeth grinding at night
- Brushing your teeth hardly
- Eating acidic foods
Individuals with sensitive teeth feel intense pain and discomfort whenever they eat something. You may feel the sharp pain till your roots which commonly induced by the following things.
- Cold food
- Sugary food
- Cold temperature
- Acidic food
- Alcohol mouthwash
Gums problem
There are two types of gum problems such as gum inflammation (Gingivitis) and gum disease (periodontitis). It starts with bacterial growth in the mouth and ends up in dental diseases. It causes teeth lost due to the tissue damage around your teeth. It’s important to know that normal gum inflammation should not progress in gum disease.
During the early stage of gum inflammation, the bacteria inside the plaque accumulation causes a problem. It makes gums to bleed while tooth brushing. Even though teeth safely remain in sockets, still the gums get irritated. This stage of gum disease doesn’t cause any tissue damage.
Gum disease occurs due to hormonal changes, sickness, dental family history, and poor dental hygiene.
Even some medication intake also affect saliva and reduce its flow which causes gums and teeth health problems.
Best tips to care your dental health
You will require to give more attention to your dental health apart from daily morning and night teeth brushing. You will need to follow proper brushing routine to clean your teeth. Learn more with the help of below tips for dental care.
Brush your teeth before bedtime
It takes some time to maintain teeth health. If you have a habit of brushing teeth before going to bed that is a better thing.
Even if you have nice teeth, then also you require to maintain a proper dental routine for good teeth.
Generally, the dentist advises brushing your teeth at least two times a day. However, many of us ignore brushing teeth before bedtime which causes cavity problem. Cleaning your teeth before bedtimes help to remove the build-up plaque in the daytime.
It’s a great idea if you brush after every time you have food. Whenever you eat something, natural bacteria from mouth spread on the food you eat. Like every living organism, these bacteria also discharge waste after every food intake. The waste excreted from bacteria is highly acidic which causes to break down tooth enamel and leads to root decay and cavity.
Sleeping without brushing your teeth cause to develop plaque and calcify your teeth. It grows more over the time and unable to remove with floss and toothbrush. You will require to discuss a professional dentist to deal with a hardened plaque. The accumulated plaque can cause bad breath, swollen bleeding gums, and gum infection.
Brush your teeth with proper technique
To clean your teeth with quick bristles is not enough to remove the food leftover particles from teeth and your mouth. You need to used effective techniques to brush your teeth.
Follow the techniques suggested by American-Dental-Association (ADA).
- Begin brushing your teeth with a 45-degree angle on your gums.
- Use short forth and back strokes over the tops and sides of your teeth.
- Then, brush your teeth by holding the brush in the vertical direction and use many short strokes to focus your teeth’s front and back anterior where plaque accumulates. Remember to use gentle pressure to avoid gum bleeding and decay.
- Brush your teeth two times every day by using a soft bristled brush.
- Choose the brush which can fit and easily reach everywhere in your mouth.
- If the brush bristle spread, then change your toothbrush once every three months for the best result. An old toothbrush won’t help for proper teeth cleaning.
Brush Enough
Regular teeth brushing is a good habit but do you brush enough to clean your teeth completely?
(ADA)-American-Dental-Association recommends brushing your teeth at least for two minutes and two times every day.
Many dentists suggest brushing enough takes two minutes time. Anna Guarna a dentist from Connecticut had an experiment with three patients and asked to brush for 3 minutes in which they had to brush one and a half minute upper and bottom teeth. Others were unable to brush properly in 2 minutes except for these three patients.
You can set a time of 2 minutes or listen to the song so you can enjoy the brushing your teeth. Even you can use electronic toothbrush which has a self-timer for cleaning teeth.
Use a fluoride toothpaste
You may find a variety of toothpaste which promises good dental care. Apart from flavors and whitening power, you need to look for other essential elements also. Whichever toothpaste you like to make sure it contains fluoride.
Flouride is a mineral found in teeth and bone and it also naturally available in the soil, plants, water, air, and rocks.
Fluoride helps to eliminate tooth decay and enamel breakdown. It also boosts the remineralization process in teeth. The new enamel crystals form large and harder which can easily fight with acid.
Plaque accumulated on the surface of teeth release acids which sip into the enamel pores and cause to break its internal structure which describes as demineralization.
Demineralization forms a weak spot inside the tooth and results in the cavity if not treated in time. Understanding how fluoride helps your teeth health can make you more aware about dental care. The more you know about the plaque, it will help to avoid cavity.
Care your tongue
Apart from your teeth, plaque can accumulate on the tongue which will cause bad breath and oral health ailments. For good dental care, you will require to clean your tongue while brushing your teeth.
A healthy tongue contains consistent pink color including food debris and dead cells which can make tongue appear white. The tongue also contains odorous gram-negative bacteria in the crevices which causes bad breath. The accumulated bacteria build-up in the tongue.
You can also use tongue cleaner apart from other oral care product. You may have seen there are some brushes which contain tongue cleaner in its backside.
Floss Properly
Flossing is as important as brushing your teeth. You will need to get between teeth where the germs hide.
You can use a piece of floss which should be at least 18 inches in length which can support floss few times without reinserting removed bacteria.
Make sure to the floss rubbing against your teeth in C shape motion forward or backward which wrap the floss around each tooth.
Flossing helps to benefit teeth naturally It removes waste and bacteria constantly from places where the toothbrush cannot reach.
The aged people find a problem with flossing, but you can try the other ways which include:
- You can take an interdental brush which fit in teeth.
- Use floss strips with handles which is easy to hold.
- Another option is water flosser which can direct water within the teeth.
- Floss threads help to floss below-fixed bridges.
Use mouthwash
You might have seen many commercials about mouthwash which are necessary for overall oral health including dental care. Mouthwash helps in the following ways.
- It assists to decrease the mouth acid.
- Mouthwash can wipe gums and areas within teeth where the brush unable to reach.
- It benefits to remineralize your teeth.
- Mouthwash is a valuable addition which helped to maintain the oral health ailments.
When aged people and children find difficulty while brushing teeth, then mouthwash can help to remove the waste from teeth.
Consult your dentist to find suitable mouthwash for your oral health. Individuals with sensitive teeth need to get special sensitive relief mouthwash. There will be varieties of mouthwash available for children also.
Drink enough water
Water is the best drink to keep you hydrated and support your oral health. It is good to drink water after every meal. Drinking water helps to flush out the negative effects of sticky acidic food.
Eat crunchy fruits and vegetables
Ready-made foods are good sometimes but not good for teeth health.
Fresh and crunchy foods healthy and convenient for teeth health because it contains fiber.
Avoid giving overly mushy and processed foods to your kids. Try to give foods which can make jaw muscle working.
Reduce acidic and sugary foods intake
Sugary foods get converted into acid which affects tooth enamel. It is the acid which causes a cavity in the teeth.
Avoid acidic fruits, coffee, and tea which can break the enamel. You don’t need to avoid all food but make sure to brush your teeth after eating.
Sugar Is like a magnet to bad bacteria in the mouth. There are two bad bacteria available in the mouth which includes
- Streptococcus sorbrinus
- Streptococcus mutans
Both bacteria get a feed with sugar whenever you eat and result in dental plaque which is colorless and sticky forms on the teeth.
If you do not remove the plaque while it is forming by brushing or saliva, the oral health becomes acidic and form a cavity.
Consult your dentist after every six months
Maintaining oral health every day is important but yet you need to have to check up with your dentist every six months. When you are unable to clean the plaque, then you need dentist help to remove it.
The dentist will remove the calculus and check for cavities with potential dental problems.
Your dentist will do a comprehensive analysis of your gums, teeth, mouth to check the precise dental problem. If there is any difficulty related to teeth health, then it will be better to manage it before growing in a risky stage.
Check ADA Seal
Every toothpaste is different. For best tooth cleaning product check for ADA seal (American Dental Association) acceptance. The dental products with ADA seal are strictly meet with effective rules and manufacturing promises with the content of fluorides which have variety according to the age such as adults, and children. The ADA seal can guarantee you safety and cleanliness.
Avoid tobacco content products
For good oral health, you will require to avoid tobacco consumption. Tobacco causes to stain your teeth and bad breath. Eventually, tobacco causes periodontal complications and oral cancer.
Smoking affects the immune system and weakens the disease-fighting system. This condition creates difficulty for fighting gum infection. Even smoking reduces the chances of healing gum infections.
Calcium for dental care
You will require to consume daily required calcium. Adults need calcium to maintain teeth and bone health. Whereas, children and babies need calcium to build strong teeth.
Calcium deficiency develops more chances of osteoporosis which leads to weaken the teeth and break easily.
Calcium deficiency not only effect on bones but it also causes a problem to teeth specifically jaw bone which is an anchor of teeth.
If jaw bone gets damaged, then it will cause to lose the teeth, and it also makes teeth to fall out.
Women are at more risk to lose their teeth due to calcium deficiency.
Babies to adults need a different amount of calcium per day. The National-Academy-of-Sciences suggest various dietary intakes according to age and gender.
Example: Pregnant women and children require more calcium than adult men.
Calcium intake recommendation according to age.
- 0-12 Months old babies – 200mg to 260mg
- 1-3-year-old Children – 700mg
- 4-8 Years Children – 1,000mg
- 9-18 Years Children & Teens age – 1,300mg
- 19-71 Years Adults – 1,000mg
- 71+ Years Adults – 1,200mg
Don’t ignore teeth pain
Do visit your dentist when you get a constant toothache, jaw pain, and gum sensitivity. Your dentist can help to find the cause of teeth pain and treat it before it causes a problem.
Whenever you eat or drink something bacteria stick to your teeth until you brush it. The stuck bacteria produce acid which causes to make a hole in teeth enamel which also describes as cavities.
Cavity causes sharp pain in cavity cracks which increase the long-term sensitivity. If the cavity is deep, then the bacteria can enter in the inner layer from the crack which describes as the pulp of the tooth. These pulp causes to get an infection which results in pus accumulation. The cavity infection can spread to bones and tissues. The build-up pus can cause you to feel constant irritating pain in your teeth.
Clean oral care kit
Wash your oral irrigator and toothbrush after using them. Keep your toothbrush in an upright direction and don’t cover the head which will cause bacteria growth. Let the brush get dry to avoid bacteria growth.
Foods to avoid for good dental care
Sour Candies
Sugary candies are bad for dental health. But sour candies have various kind of acids that impact on teeth health.
Sour candies are chewy which stick on teeth and cause tooth decay.
If you crave for sweet, then have some bar chocolate instead of candies and brush your teeth.
Avoid Carbonated Drinks
During dental care, you need to avoid carbonated drinks. Carbonated beverages help some diets, but it’s not good for teeth health. High consumption of carbonated products causes to damage teeth as it contains crack cocaine and methamphetamine. Carbonated products produce more acid which easily attacks tooth enamel.
Therefore, if your daily life is hectic and involves carbonated drinks, then you are coating your teeth with acids. It also makes your mouth dry and limits saliva production.
Carbonated drinks also cause to discolor your teeth. Brushing recent after drinking carbonated drinks also affect teeth health. Generally, you can wash the mouth with water. If you have teeth problem, then avoiding carbonated drinks can help.
Avoid Ice
Generally, ice is fine to chew as it contains only water. But ice is not helpful for dental care.
American Dental Association suggests that chewing hard things can damage tooth enamel and make you more prone to get dental problems such as tooth crack, loosen tooth, broken teeth.
Use ice to chill your beverages but avoid chewing ice directly.
Citrus
Citrus fruits such as lemon, orange, and grapefruits contain rich vitamin C which is best for health, but they also contain acids which can destroy teeth enamel.
Additionally, citrus acid causes mouth sores. If you want to get citrus fruits minerals and vitamins, then eat it at a moderate level and wash your mouth afterward.
Limit Potato Chips
Potato chips are tasty, and crunchy snack which everyone likes to eat. But potato chips contain lots of starch which get converted in sugar. This sugar sticks around teeth and feeds the plaque bacteria. The acid generation from potato chips spread and stays for some time which will affect tooth enamel and leads to tooth decay.
It is important to wash your mouth or brush after eating potato chips.
Dried fruits
Yes, dry fruits are a healthy snack, but some of them are sticky such as prunes, apricots, figs, and raisin. These dry fruits stick with teeth and leave loads of surgery acid on teeth.
If you like to eat dry fruits, then make sure to wash your mouth or brush after eating. A fresh version of these dry fruits can be good for teeth health.
Bread
When you have a dental problem, try to avoid bread because chewing bread makes saliva to a breakdown into starch and sugar. After some time, the bread becomes gummy paste like thing and stick in the holes of the teeth. Try to eat less refined carb which produced with whole wheat. Whole wheat products contain less amount of added sugar which will not break down easily.
Prevent teeth injuries
For better shape and good-looking teeth, you need to protect your teeth against any injuries.
Do you know 80% of the teeth injuries happen in front teeth? Children are more likely to get teeth injury while they are growing up and learning to walk. Adults may get injuries during sports.
You may get teeth injury from following uncertain situations such as
- Falling from bike
- Accident
- Hockey sport
You can prevent these injuries by wearing a helmet which not only protects your teeth but also save your head and face from unexpected injuries.
Only chew food with your teeth
Your teeth are responsible for only chewing food. Do not do anything with your teeth apart from chewing. Avoid things such as
- Nuts cracking
- Bottle top opening
- Package opening
These activities cause to chip and break your teeth.
Try preventive dentistry which is a regular practice of taking care of your teeth health. It helps to prevent enamel wear, teeth decay, gum disease, and sensitivity.
Maintaining oral hygiene helps to strengthen your teeth for the long term.
Preventive dentistry benefits everyone. Specifically, children get benefits because it helps newly growing teeth to grow healthy and strong.