How to Practice Good Dental Hygiene
Practicing good dental hygiene is super important, not just for your mouth but for your whole body. It’s good to get a reminder every now and then of the best ways to do this so you can avoid issues in the future.
Well, you’re in the right place because in this post we tell you everything you need to know about dental hygiene and we introduce ourselves at Didsbury Dental Practice and tell you what we can do for you as a private dentist in Manchester.
Dental hygiene explained
Dental hygiene is the practice of maintaining good oral health. By keeping up the cleanliness of your teeth and mouth, you will help to avoid problems in the future such as tooth decay and gum disease as well as other problems.
Dental hygiene is important for the sake of your mouth health. Without brushing, flossing or using mouthwash, food would stay in our mouths, stuck between our teeth, feeding the bacteria in our mouths and causing our teeth to decay. A mouth full of bacteria would also cause gum disease, ulcers and even tonsillitis, all of which can be very painful and result in the loss of teeth.
Understanding dental hygiene and how to maintain it is important for your overall health and will mean fewer visits to the dentist, particularly for emergency dental treatment. With just a few simple steps, you and your whole family can have healthy-looking gums and teeth so you can smile happily every day and show off those pearly whites.
Top 8 tips for dental hygiene
To get the most out of your oral health routine, follow these 7 tips.
- Brush your teeth twice a day, including your tongue
- Visit your dentist at least twice a year
- Visit your dental hygienist to do a deep clean on your teeth
- Replace your toothbrush regularly
- Floss and use interdental brushes once a day
- Avoid sugary foods and drinks
- Use a fluoride toothpaste
- Go private.
Find out more about each point before.
Brush your teeth twice a day
Taking care of your gums and teeth doesn’t need to be a troublesome task. Doing simple things every day can help to keep your gums and teeth healthy so you can avoid problems in the future, such as brushing your teeth twice a day.
No matter how tired you are at the end of the day, you must make it part of your nightly routine to brush your teeth, otherwise the build-up of food from the day with sit in your mouth and between your teeth overnight and bacteria will begin to grow. The same goes for the morning, no matter how busy you are, making brushing your teeth in the morning a non-negotiable.
But, it isn’t as simple as just brushing your teeth twice a day and that’s the end of it. You must make sure you are brushing your teeth properly and there are a few other things that we recommend you do too.
How to brush your teeth properly
Brushing your teeth doesn’t mean swishing a toothbrush around your mouth quality, rinsing and leaving it there. You must make sure you’re brushing your teeth properly for it to be fully effective. Take your time and brush your teeth for around 2 minutes. Move the brush around your mouth in small circular motions, concentrating on each individual tooth.
Visit your dentist
We recommend visiting your dentist for a general check-up twice a year. Your dentist will monitor and assess your dental hygiene and recommend further treatment if needed. Your dentist will check each tooth, they might perform simple procedures like fillings or even do x-rays to check the overall health of your mouth.
Sometimes, your dentist may refer you to a dental hygienist to give your teeth an ultra-clean, which will help to give your oral health a power kick!
Visit your dental hygienist
A dental hygienist isn’t the same as a dentist; they don’t go to dental school and they don’t perform dental procedures such as fillings or tooth extraction. A dental hygienist is purely concerned with the health of your teeth and will clean them as well as inform you on how to best look after your teeth. They have diplomas in dental hygiene in order to practise and can also perform certain helpful tasks at the dentist’s office like taking an x-ray of your teeth and assessing the general health of your teeth.
When you see a dental hygienist, they’ll usually perform a teeth cleaning, which involves scraping away the plaque from the gaps between your teeth. Whatever is left behind after you have brushed your teeth becomes hard and contributes to tooth decay and the formation of cavities in your teeth, which is why dental hygienists remove it.
Replace your toothbrush regularly
Having a toothbrush that is fully intact and new is just as important as the action of taking care of your teeth. Be sure to use a good toothbrush that is fully intact so it can do its job properly. A toothbrush that has bristles that are worn out and point in any other direction than straight upwards, isn’t going to clean your teeth properly.
Floss and use interdental brushes
Flossing is a great way to get right in between your teeth where your toothbrush cannot reach. Without cleaning between your teeth, food could get trapped and cause a build-up of bacteria. Dental floss is a dental string that will fit perfectly between your teeth with minimal force. We recommend that you floss between your teeth at least once a day. At night time is best so you are going to sleep with a clean, fresh mouth.
Interdental brushes are a little different as they are tiny brushes that fit in between the tiny gaps between your gum and teeth that your brush is too big to reach. These areas are particularly at risk of gum disease because the gaps hold onto food and without interdental brushes, the food sits there and causes bacteria to build up.
Avoid sugary food and drinks
Eating sugary foods can cause tooth decay so make sure you limit the amount of sugar you consume. There are hidden sugars in lots of food so always check the labels. One place to easily consume more sugar than you realise is through drinks. The best drink you can consume is of course water but if you want something else, make sure you choose a sugar-free or low-sugar alternative to the usual sugar-filled soft drinks.
Use a fluoride toothpaste
Fluoride is a naturally derived mineral that helps prevent tooth decay by strengthening the tooth’s enamel, therefore giving your tooth more resistance to tooth decay. In addition to this, fluoride toothpaste can help to repair tooth decay, prevent gum disease and provide protection for sensitive teeth.
Why choose private
Many people wonder if they would receive better treatment with a private dentist and this will depend from patient to patient but overall, private dentists aren’t as rushed, have more advanced, newer and more equipment due to not having over-stretched budgets and can provide better aftercare, therefore, it is more likely that you will receive excellent treatment from a private dentist than an NHS dentist.
At Didsbury Dental Practice, we are a private dentist that offers an array of oral hygiene services and treatments. We often get asked what the main difference is between a private and an NHS dentist and this is that the NHS offers free oral healthcare to certain people such as children, pregnant women, people on low-income benefits and patients being treated in hospitals as this is funded by the NHS. But, more and more people are choosing to go private due to the benefits of it, such as:
- Shorter wait times
- More flexible appointment times
- Longer appointment time with your dentist
- Higher quality of care with no restrictions on funding
- Access to cosmetic dental treatments such as veneers
And so much more!
Go private, choose Didsbury
At Didsbury Dental we offer comprehensive and compassionate dental care, including emergency dentistry, in tranquil surroundings. Conveniently located in southern Manchester, we can provide you with all your general and cosmetic dental needs with a highly skilled team of distinguished dentists, specialists and hygienists – all under one roof.
As well as all of this, we are a 24-hour dentist for dental emergencies so we’re not only here for your dental check-ups but for when you need us the most. So, to practice good dental hygiene choose us and we will take care of the rest!
