Unlike most of your body, teeth generally can’t heal. This is why it’s so important to protect your teeth – prevention is the best cure! Luckily, it’s not too hard to make sure your teeth are in tip top shape, leaving you to smile, eat, and speak with comfort and beauty, and without having to worry about your teeth. Everyone’s different, and so it’s best to have individual advice tailored just for you. But here’s a few things that everyone should follow to keep your pearly whites healthy and beautiful.
- Get regular oral and dental check-ups
- Regular dental checkups are so important for maintaining healthy, low maintenance teeth! Decay often doesn’t start to hurt or get sensitive until the cavity is quite deep – this is why regular check-ups and diagnostic x-rays are needed, to catch problems early.
- We’re not only checking your teeth at checkups, but also your lymph nodes, jaw joints, cheeks, gums, tonsils and doing an oral cancer screening.
- Good brushing and oral hygiene
- Brushing
- Use a soft toothbrush, as medium and hard ones can cause your teeth to wear away. Brush in small circles, about 45 degrees into the gumline as this is where most plaque builds up.
- Brush twice a day with fluoride toothpaste to remove plaque and prevent tooth decay.
- Flossing/cleaning in between
- Depending on your teeth and the gaps between them, this can be floss, flossettes, interdental brushes like Piksters, or more recently water flossers like Waterpik. Find out which option is for you by asking us at your checkup.
- Regular professional cleans – when the plaque hardens into tartar or ‘calculus’, we can’t remove it with a toothbrush or floss anymore – you might be able to feel it with your tongue or see it on the inside of your lower front teeth. This is why we use a special ‘ultrasonic scaler’ and rubber cup with polishing paste when you come to see us, to remove the calcium deposits on your teeth regularly. This should be done once every 6 months to prevent long-term buildups. Time for your clean? Call us on (02) 6262 0423 to make an appointment.
- Brushing
- Maintain a good diet
- Sweets – sugar is tasty, but the bacteria in your mouth think so too! They feed mainly off the sugars in our diets, and too many sugars mean the ‘bad bacteria’ take over, causing tooth decay. Try replacing sugary snacks with teeth-friendly snacks like cheese and crackers.
- Acids – strong acids can cause the outer layer of teeth to ‘dissolve’, and since teeth don’t grow back, over time this can cause tooth wear and sensitivity, as well as helping the ‘bad bacteria’.
- Don’t forget drinks are also a part of your diet!
- Soft drinks – are both acidic and sugary, causing a ‘double whammy’ effect. If you love your soft drinks, try switching to diet or sugar free ones as they at least have less sugar, and consider using a straw.
- Tea and coffee – can cause brown staining on your teeth, which can generally be removed when you come in for a clean and polish. To reduce the staining buildup, try rinsing out with water after your cup of tea or coffee. If you like sugar in it, try reducing the amount over time or switching to a sweetener.
- Alcohol – drink plenty of water while drinking. Most alcoholic drinks contain sugars and acids – try to rinse out, and use a straw for mixed drinks.
- Rinse out afterwards if you’re having a sugary or acidic drink to minimise the effects.
We all have our vices though, and we all enjoy a sweet treat now and then! We’re not here to tell you off, we’re here to help you enjoy the things you love in life while keeping your teeth healthy, beautiful and low-maintenance.
Book in for your checkup now to make sure you’re doing everything you can be to protect your teeth, by calling or sending us a message.
