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Friday, August 26, 2016

Keep Your Teeth Strong And Healthy As You Get Older

Nutrition: What you put in your mouth can affect the health of your teeth and gums. Choosing the right foods early in life can be especially beneficial throughout your whole life. Choose foods that are low in sugar and starches.

Floss: Whichever ‘gizmo’, gadget or bit of tape you choose to use – will do nothing to reduce your risk of tooth decay or gum disease if you don’t use it properly. Majority of the population that do use floss on a regular basis do not use it correctly. To effectively remove plaque, you need to hook the floss like a C around the tooth, so it hooks out the plaque from between the contact points of the teeth.

Regular dental visits:
Spending money on maintaining your oral health now will save you big bucks in the end, and your teeth will thank you for it by staying put!

Grinding and clenching: Clenching and grinding can make you wake up in the morning with sore facial muscles and can also crack, chip and wear your teeth. Not many people know that your dentist can help with this. If you experience any of these problems, ask you dentist how they can help.

Smoking: Did you know that smoking reduces the blood flow to your mouth, resulting in greater chances of developing periodontal disease and oral cancers? Not only that, if you are a smoker and have any type of surgery or dental treatment, smoking reduces the ability of revasularisation (healing) of bone and soft tissue.

Chewing Gum: If you watch television you know that chewing gum after meals produces saliva flow, but did you know that chewing gum can actually improve your alertness by 10% by improving blood flow to the brain according to a recent study in Japan. So besides neutralizing acids and cleaning your teeth, chewing gum improves motor skills.

Soften your toothbrush: You should never use a hard toothbrush. Hard toothbrushes cause abrasion to your enamel, which then exposes your dentine making your teeth appear more yellowish.

Change your toothbrush: Changing your toothbrush is vital in keeping your oral hygiene in a good condition. Toothbrushes should be changed every 3 months due to the ineffectiveness after this. Also your mouth is full of bacteria, which transfers to your toothbrush after every use.

Use a straw: When drinking every dentist’s worst nightmare – soft drink or soda; use a straw. Using a straw will bypass the acid to your teeth. You still need to rinse your mouth with water after drinking.

Limit snacks: The more snacks with sugar you have between meals (fruit, juice, sugared coffee, soft drinks etc.) the more holes you are likely to get. If you are a compulsive grazer it is important that you remember these 10 keys to keeping your teeth strong