Your Daily Oral Hygiene Guide

Keeping your teeth healthy is a process which really must be undertaken all throughout your lifetime, and it will be necessary for you to exercise good oral hygiene habits every single day. While this might seem like a lot, it is a small price to pay for having a beautiful smile, and healthy teeth which help you chew and digest the foods you eat every day. Even if you have an attractive smile today, the only way to maintain that smile is to engage in good oral hygiene practices, so that all the teeth in your mouth can remain healthy and strong. Here are some of the best recommendations and dental tips for establishing a solid routine of good oral hygiene.

The way that you brush your teeth is extremely important, and if you do a poor job of brushing your teeth, that won't be much better than doing no brushing at all. The right way to brush your teeth is to take your time and to move the brush in gentle, circular motions, so that all plaque can be removed. If you don't get rid of this plaque, it will build up and possibly lead to gingivitis, which is gum disease. It's also a good idea to make sure you brush your teeth before going to bed, because that will remove all the germs and plaque which may have accumulated during the daytime. If you fail to remove this material, it will have an excellent opportunity while you sleep, to decay and to attack the enamel of your teeth.

Whenever you brush your teeth, make sure to use a toothpaste which contains fluoride. Whatever other components you include in your favorite toothpaste, make sure that at a bare minimum it has fluoride included. Fluoride has been convincingly proven to be one of the best defenses against tooth decay, and that's why it should be in any toothpaste you purchase. Fluoride functions by fighting germs which can cause decay among your teeth, and it leaves a protective barrier in place to continue fighting those germs, well past the time that you brush your teeth.

Some people think that brushing is all they need to do in order to maintain good oral hygiene, but that's just not the case. Regular flossing is excellent for removing particles which might get trapped between your teeth, and then decay to produce harmful bacteria in your mouth. It has another benefit as well, which is to stimulate the gums and reduce any inflammation which might have developed there. If you have tried flossing before and found it to be a difficult procedure, you should be aware that there are lots of flossing devices which make it very easy to do now. Even if you can't manage traditional floss, everyone can easily handle using floss picks, which are a combination of floss and a toothpick.

There is no question that water is the absolute best beverage for your oral health, and probably for your overall health as well. It's a good idea to drink some water after every meal, because this helps wash down any of the acidic residue from foods or beverages which you may have just ingested. This is particularly important if it will be a few hours before your next brushing.

Mouthwash can do much more than give you good smelling breath, and that's why you should consider including it in your daily oral hygiene program. A good mouthwash will lower the amount of acid in your mouth, it will help flush out areas which are hard to brush, and it also helps to re-mineralize your teeth. Particularly for young children and seniors, who may have difficulty with brushing and flossing, using a mouthwash can be very effective, and can help fill in the gap caused by less frequent brushing and flossing.