YOU want to make sure that your teeth are well taken care of? It's really really important to have good oral health habits because a dental problem may have more negative consequences that you can ever imagine!
If you don't take care of your teeth, it won't be long before cavities and unhealthy gums make your mouth very, very sore. Eating meals will be difficult. You won't feel like smiling much either. This article will help you out!
StepsBrushing Your Teeth:
1. Brush your teeth thoroughly at least twice a day, for two minutes each time. Make sure you brush on all sides of your teeth and get your tongue. You can ask your dentist(s) for a demonstration. It is best to do one of these times before you go to bed, as your mouth does not have the same salivary protection when you are sleeping as it does during the day. If you can, brush after lunch as well. Brushing during the day will reduce the damage caused by plaque byproducts and toxins.
Each tooth has five distinct sides; a toothbrush cleans only 3 of those 5 sides. The other two sides are where much of the destruction and disease (not to mention foul odors) originate: the in between areas. These remaining two sides require dental floss or tiny inter-dental brushes that can reach in-between and under the contact points of the teeth. Gum disease is linked to life-threatening illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and premature low birth weight babies.
2. Use a dry bristle brush for the first two minutes of cleaning. It's not the toothpaste that "cleans" your teeth, it's the mechanical action of the bristles in physical contact with the tooth surface that removes plaque (a living bio-film teeming with microorganisms that cause disease). You can do a magnificent job brushing your teeth using a dry brush and rinsing with water (although your teeth will not have the benefit of fluoride).
3. Spend time moving the bristles at and below the gum line, where it is most important to clean. The toothpaste can go on after those two minutes, and you can have the advantage of fluoride, whitening, stain removal or whatever works better for you because it's applied to a nice clean surface.
Floss Your Teeth:
1. Floss your teeth daily and after any food that will stick in your teeth (i.e. corn on the cob, caramel, peanut butter, etc.). This cleans the other sides of your teeth that you couldn't reach with your toothbrush.
2. Use a tongue scraper. A tongue scraper is an important part of oral hygiene that will also work wonders with stale, smelly breath. Use it to remove the plaque on your tongue, which will freshen breath and presumably slow down the accumulation of plaque on your teeth. Alternatively, you can use your toothbrush to clean your tongue.
Use Mouth Wash
1Find a fluoride mouthwash. Fluoride mouthwashes help to strengthen tooth enamel. Teach children between the age of six and twelve good rinsing skills to prevent swallowing. Follow the directions on the bottle. Right before you got to bed is a good time.
Choose Your Foods Wisely
1. Avoid snacking constantly. Snacking constantly can cause plaque to build up on your teeth, which can increase the risk of getting cavities.
2. Instead of reaching for the chocolate, nibble a bit of cheese as a snack. Cheese and milk are really good for keeping healthy teeth because they are alkaline. This counteracts the acids that eat away at your teeth.
3. Avoid sugary and/or sticky foods. Sugar feeds the bacteria in your mouth, which then excrete substances that break down tooth enamel.
Eat lots of vegetables, and drink water instead of soda or juice.
4. Remember that fruit juices are full of acids and natural sugars. Keep drinking these to a minimum or only drink them at meal-times, when the saliva is flowing most.
5. Try to chew less seeds. It may produce fissures in your molars.
Visit the dentist
1. Visit your dentist at least every six months and every time that you have a problem with your teeth. Schedule a professional cleaning with a registered dental hygienist. #Visit the dentist twice a year and Be an "informed health care consumer" and pay attention to what is going on. Ask your dental hygienist what your probings are at each visit! (They should be between 1 mm and 3 mm deep.)
2. Most important: In addition to checking for signs of cavities or gum disease, the dentist and dental hygienist can give you feedback about how effective your plaque removal at home is, and more importantly help you learn the best way to brush and floss. You need to know how to prevent problems by having your skills evaluated. If you are not effective with flossing and brushing technique, you are only wasting your time while leaving the door open for infection and disease. How many times a day you brush & floss, or how long you spend brushing are all SECONDARY to your degree of skill using them. It all boils down to whether or not you can effectively reach and remove the adherent biofilm surrounding every one of your teeth, at and below the gumline. Ask your dental hygienist to watch your technique and work with you! That's what we're there for!
Tips
Understand that when you brush, you don't need a lot of toothpaste; just squeeze out a bit the size of a pea.
Replace your toothbrush every three months.
Spend extra time on the back teeth along the gum-line, holding the bristles at a 45 degree angle pointing toward the gums, as plaque and other bacteria can build up easily there because of your saliva stream.
Everyone has millions of bacteria living in their mouths that have one goal: find a hard surface to stick to and grow into a community. This happens rapidly and automatically, whether we know it or not, twenty-four hours a day, and three hundred and sixty-five days a year. It cannot be avoided because our bacteria are part of us and present whether we like it or not. Once they attach themselves to a tooth surface, they form what is called "plaque" - the invisible film that coats your teeth. You have probably felt this 'fuzzy sweater' feeling on your teeth when you wake up in the morning and run your tongue along the outside of the upper back teeth next to your cheek. Taking care of your teeth involves disrupting the plaque by means of physical contact with dental floss and toothbrush bristles.
Use a thorough, effective technique with a slow circular motion aimed AT and BELOW the gumline, inside and out, top and bottom. Brushing too hard may abrade your gums or cause them to recede and/or bleed, while brushing too soft will do nothing to get rid of plaque/biofilm.
Floss your teeth before brushing. This is so that plaque from the outside and inside surfaces of the teeth gets dislodged too be killed when you brush.
Aim the bristles toward the gumline and brush the insides and outsides of your teeth in a small circular motion.
Use a linear motion to brush the top sides of your teeth (chewing surfaces).
When brushing the back sides of your front teeth, hold the toothbrush upright (vertical) and move it up and down along each individual tooth - both lower and upper arches. Repeat several times for each tooth.
Use mouth wash after brushing.
Chewing gum between meals, especially if the gum is sweetened with xylitol, helps keep your mouth moist, and your teeth cleaner, both of which are good for your teeth.
Get into the habit of drinking with a straw, as this directs the (possibly sugary) drink away from your teeth.
If you smoke, you will be more prone to bad breath, gum infection and bone loss. Also, it prevents you from experiencing the real taste of food and drinks.
Don't forget to brush the back of your tongue and the upper palate of your mouth.
When you use mouthwash, use as directed on the bottle, read all instructions BEFORE using the product.
New prescription toothpastes are now available that can actually reverse early lesions (cavities) by remineralization and also bring added protection to those areas on the verge of breaking down. Ask your dentist or dental hygienist about these products... they are a major breakthrough in preventing decay!
Bulimia can wreak havoc on your teeth, causing irreversible damage from the strong acid in your stomach that comes back up into the mouth while regurgitating. When you have a check up at the dentist, this destruction is clearly visible to them.
Try and drink milk, as it is high in calcium. Calcium helps bones and teeth to grow stronger.
Warnings:
Don't swallow toothpaste. Be sure to rinse and spit after brushing.
Less is more. Don't floss, brush teeth, or scrape tongue too roughly. Over-brushing or rough flossing can cause gums to recede.
Some toothpaste is not recommended to be used daily if they are too strong - check the label of your toothpaste for details.
Never brush your teeth right after a big meal. Wait about a half an hour and then go. Otherwise, you could damage your enamel!
Don't swallow mouth wash.
After having an especially sugary drink, washing your mouth out with water or milk will help get rid of harmful acids?
Don't use a brush with firm bristles, as this will scratch away at the protective layer that coats your teeth.
Don't wear mouth piercings. It produce micro-fractures in your teeth that might break your dental pieces.
Don't cut strands with your teeth because it will conduct eventually to extreme sensitivity.
Avoid biting objects/nails. It might cause tiny fissures and/or cracks in your teeth.
Don't chew gum constantly. IT will lead to articular problems and tooth cavities.
Avoid using toothpicks. They lead to gum disease.
Don't take drugs not prescribed by a dentist. Some drugs work causing friction with your gums which conducts to gum irritation and inflammation.
Things You'll Need:
Toothpaste
A good quality toothbrush, electric or manual, (soft bristled).
Dental floss
Tongue cleaner(Can use your toothbrush).
Sugar free chewing gum (for use during and after meals), can even use whitening gum!
Mouth wash (It can help restore some enamel). If you have weak enamel use pronamel toothpaste.
And Now This's More to It Than Brushing
The Vitamin D/A/K2 Connection
You’ve probably heard about how this holy trinity of micronutrients works together to promote proper bone and tooth mineralization, which means putting calcium and other minerals where they belong (bones, teeth) instead of where they don’t (arteries, dental calculus/plaque). Both Stephan Guyenet and Chris Masterjohn have written extensively about the synergistic interplay between the three nutritional factors, so I’ll keep this brief. Get adequate midday sun or take vitamin D supplements; eat grass-fed butter, hard cheeses, and organs (especially goose liver, apparently), or supplement with vitamin K2; get plenty of vitamin A from liver, egg yolks, and other animal products.
Grain Avoidance
I probably don’t have to tell you to avoid grains, but for any newcomers who might be reading: ditch the grains, beans, and other legumes that contain high levels of phytic acid, which is known to bind to and prevent absorption of minerals critical for dental health. Nuts also contain phytic acid, but we tend not to eat as many nuts as grains or legumes due to the caloric load. It’s a lot easier to eat two cups of whole wheat than it is to eat two cups of almonds. If you do eat nuts on a regular basis, consider soaking and/or sprouting them to reduce phytic acid content.
Nutrient Intake
It’s not enough to consume the holy mineralization trio and avoid excessive amounts of mineral-binding phytic acid; you also need the raw building blocks. That means getting plenty of minerals in your diet. Leafy greens, grass-fed meat, organs, nuts, roots, and tubers are all good Primal sources of calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, and other vital micronutrients – vital for general and dental \
health – so eat plenty of them.
Hate the Toothbrush? Use a Chewstick.
There are numerous examples of traditional cultures using chewing sticks from trees with medicinal or antimicrobial properties, like the neem in India, the miswak/arak in Africa, the Mid East, and Asia, or the tea tree, which I mentioned in a previous post. Here’s an example of a Masai “toothbrush” – it’s a whittled-down branch from a (perhaps medicinal) tree with the end frayed and the fibers splayed out to permit interdental entry. If you don’t have access to a miswak, neem, or tea tree, you can find chew sticks online quite easily. Toothpicks or floss will also work pretty well as a physical deterrent, albeit without any medicinal qualities.
There isn’t a ton of head-to-head research on the subject, but one study from 2003 found that miswak chewing sticks removed more plaque and resulted in better gingival health than toothbrushes. The caveat is that chew stick users had to be instructed in the proper use of the implements, whereas toothbrushes are fairly straightforward (not to mention most of us have grown up using them, so we’re well-versed in toothbrushing). It’s notable that chew sticks do not require toothpaste, and they appear to be just as, if not more, effective than toothbrushes. Longer history of use, too. You just have to know how to use it. Miswak appears to be the most studied, so you’ll probably want to use that variety.
Toothpaste
If you’re gonna use a toothbrush, do you need the paste? If so, is Crest/Colgate/insert-mainstream-paste-here good, or should you go with an herbal/alternative/insert-paste-available-at-Whole-Foods-here instead?
Toothpaste use increases abrasion during brushing, while water alone produces less abrasive force. Interestingly, the same study revealed that softer toothbrushes actually cause as much abrasion (and sometimes more) than stiffer toothbrushes. While increased abrasive forces seem like they’d reduce more plaque, that doesn’t seem to be the case. A recent study found that the brushing is the important part, not the paste. In fact, brushing without paste was more effective at removing plaque than brushing with paste.
An herbal toothpaste made from herbs and plants traditionally used to treat oral disease in India was superior to a placebo toothpaste in the treatment of gingival bleeding and oral hygiene. Another study compared herbal toothpastes to conventional fluoride-containing toothpastes in the treatment of established gingivitis and found that both were equally effective.
In another study, a baking soda toothpaste beat an antimicrobial non-baking soda toothpaste in plaque removal and tooth maintenance. Most studies, in fact, show that baking soda is more effective at plaque removal than toothpastes without baking soda. It’s pretty common among older folks to just use straight baking soda to brush, and this seems to be an effective tactic.
If you’ve got all the nutritional and environmental cofactors under control, I don’t think obsessive dental hygiene beyond daily brushing (remember, even if the bristly toothbrush is a recent invention, cleaning our teeth with sticks or picking at them with fingernails is tradition), some toothpicking/flossing, regular dental visits, and/or maybe some chew sticking is necessary. It doesn’t even seem like toothpaste is necessary for good oral health. That said, I do use it – perhaps because I’ve just become conditioned to, or maybe because I need the artificially fresh feeling it provides – but I also don’t feel the pressing need to brush on schedule. I just don’t develop a ton of plaque if I go a bit longer than normal without brushing, nor do I get bad breath. And as anyone who’s been married for more than ten years will tell you, the wife will definitely let you know if things go awry in that area. If you want a cheap toothpaste that isn’t overly sweet, baking soda should do the trick.
