Best Practices for Maintaining Good Oral Hygiene

• Eat Healthier foods and avoid sugary snacks.
• Rinse your mouth with water after meals or chew sugarless gum.
• Brush your teeth at least twice per day.
• Floss every day.
• Protect your teeth with a mouth guard when playing contact sports or sleeping if you have problems with grinding.
• Use an appropriate mouth rinse — especially if you’re at increased risk. 
• Quit tobacco. 
• Get regular, biannual checkups with Forest Heights Dental for a deep cleaning and an examination.

Following each of these steps is important to maintaining your oral hygiene, but if it's too much to implement on the same day here are some tips for progressing:

Start with buying the things you need - floss, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash etc. and leaving them where you can see them morning and night. For better eating, try buying one healthy snack and throwing away an unhealthy one each week until your food options are primarily good. Treat yourself once a week for doing well, this is for your benefit!

How Important is Oral Hygiene?

It affects more than just your mouth – it affects your overall health. Your mouth serves as the door to the internal parts of your body. The mouth also serves as a vantage point for detecting early symptoms of systemic diseases. Systemic diseases such as diabetes, often starts to become apparent as a mouth lesion or other dental problems such as gum infection.

Poor oral hygiene causes bacterial pneumonia, infective endocarditis, pregnancy complications, low birth weight, cancer and sepsis – all of which can likely be prevented with a clean mouth.

In terms of your mouth, however, good oral hygiene can prevent tooth loss. Tooth loss is the most common dental problem for both children and adults. One of the many reasons for tooth loss is poor dental hygiene. Plaque buildup caused by poor oral hygiene may result in severe tooth decay or gum infection which, in turn, may cause tooth loss.

It’s important for your self-esteem if having a bright, white smile matters to you!