Practising proper dental hygiene is an important part of keeping healthy teeth. The establishment of a regular dental health routine will have you well on your way to keeping a healthy mouth and preventing common problems associated with poor dental health.
The need for practising proper dental hygiene starts as early as when you are a child and start getting your first teeth. Therefore, you should have your children in the habit of brushing daily. Also, going to the dentist at an early age will help foster the growth of healthy teeth and promote a lifestyle of wanting to keep their teeth healthy. Your child will get fluoride treatments to assist in strengthening weak teeth. The goal is to make dental hygiene an important but fun habit to last throughout adulthood.
However, if adults are in the habit of practising poor hygiene, eat foods that damage tooth enamel, smoke or take medications that adversely affect the teeth, they run the risk of having bacterial attacks on their teeth and gums.
It’s important to go to the dentist to have a dental hygiene plan prescribed for your specific dental needs. Your plan will include restorative, proactive and prevention techniques to make the most of your dental health.
Components of a Good Dental Hygiene Treatment Plan
Your dental hygiene plan from your dentist will consist of dental maintenance and proactive procedures such as teeth cleaning, fluoride rinses and scaling. Sometimes, the dentist may need to use mild anaesthesia to eliminate any pain or mild discomfort that may accompany some dental treatments (like deep teeth cleaning).
Manual brushing
Everyone knows that good dental hygiene starts at home with brushing your teeth. When brushing, don’t forget to cover your entire mouth—including the roof of the mouth and the areas behind your teeth. Your toothbrush should be held at a 45-degree angle as you move around your mouth in circular motion. It should take at least 2 minutes to brush your teeth effectively.
Flossing
Since food and other particles can build up between your teeth and increase the odds of plaque formation (from bacteria development), it’s important to have a flossing routine to remove debris from between your teeth. Take the floss and insert between your teeth while rubbing the sides of the teeth to clean out any particles.
Interdental brushing
You can also elect to do interdental brushing, which is much like flossing but with a small brush that goes between the teeth and reaches areas at the back of the mouth that may be too difficult to reach with dental floss.
Gum Disease Treatments
If you have gum disease (like gingivitis or a more serious form like periodontitis), your dental health plan will include restorative treatments to prevent further tooth and gum damage. If you don’t get care for your gum disease, you could run the risk of having bad breath, pain and tooth loss. However, if you allow your dentist to carry out the dental plan prescribed for you, then you can halt the damage already caused by gum disease and prevent any further damage.