5 tips for healthy teeth and gums

A lifetime of care is required to achieve healthy teeth. Even if you’ve been told that you have nice teeth, it’s critical to take the necessary steps every day to care for them and avoid problems. Adopting good habits, such as brushing your teeth twice a day and visiting your dentist every six months, is the best way to protect your oral health.

It’s never too late to start taking control of your oral health, which is why we’ve compiled our top five tips for maintaining healthy teeth and gums.

1. Avoid sugary foods and drinks

Do you ever get a fuzzy or rough feeling in your teeth? If this is the case, you may be leaving dental plaque on your teeth. Plaque adores sugar and uses it to create cavity-causing acid. After eating sugary foods, you may notice more plaque on your teeth. Limiting your intake of sugary foods and drinks will help you avoid oral health problems.

2. Brush twice a day

Brushing your teeth with fluoride toothpaste twice a day is advised. Fluoride is naturally occurring and has long been recognized for its benefits to oral health. Brush for at least 2 minutes to ensure that all of your teeth are thoroughly cleaned. If you brush your teeth in a rush, you may be leaving plaque on back teeth that are difficult to reach.

3. Use floss

Plaque prefers to hide in places where toothbrush bristles cannot reach. That is why it is critical to floss once a day to remove plaque from between teeth and along the gum line. Flossing helps to prevent cavities from forming between teeth.

4. Avoid smoking and alcohol

One of the most damaging habits to your oral health is smoking. Tobacco use results in tooth discolouration, plaque/tartar buildup, gum disease, tooth loss, and oral cancer. Furthermore, it impairs your mouth’s ability to heal after an injury. Alcohol, like tobacco, can be harmful to your oral health. Alcohol dries out your mouth, reducing saliva production and allowing bacteria and plaque to thrive. Because a lot of alcohol is sugary and acidic, it causes tooth decay and, eventually, tooth loss.

5. See a dentist every 6 months

To protect your oral health, it is recommended that you have a teeth cleaning and oral examination every 6 months. A dental hygienist will be able to gently scrape away plaque and tartar during teeth cleaning. When plaque hardens into tartar, it can only be removed by a dentist. Tartar buildup, if left untreated, increases your risk of tooth decay and gum disease.