A Guide To Better Oral Health- Cavity Prevention 101

A Guide To Better Oral Health- Cavity Prevention 101

A Guide To Better Oral Health

We have plenty of reasons why we need to take care of our dental health. The most common thing is we do not want to go through the pain we experience when having a toothache. This is true- a toothache is one of the most painful things we can experience. So painful that it seems like your whole body hurts, from head to toe.

Other than this, another reason is that we do not want to lose that perfect smile. When we won't take care of our teeth, we might lose them, thus losing our perfect smile. However, aside from not wanting the pain and scared of losing a perfect smile, there are a lot more reasons why we should take care of our dental health (see here). Following are some;

To Avoid Dentures

If you will not take care of your teeth, you will lose them. Aside from losing your beautiful smile, you are facing serious problems. If you lose some of it, you will no longer enjoy the foods you used to enjoy. Though dentures are available as a replacement, your food choices are still lesser than what you used to.

Moreover, having dentures is not comfortable to have. You have to make sure it doesn't fall off especially when you eat out or have a sleepover with other people. Dentures are a good replacement but nothing beats the original.


Prevent Gum Diseases

If we don't take care of our oral health, we'll have a huge chance of getting gum diseases, also known as Gingivitis. This disease is an inflammation of the gums. This usually happens when we don't clean our teeth thoroughly where plaques build up and bacteria linger especially in gums.

Symptoms of this disease include bad breath, redness, and puffiness of gums. It also bleeds when you brush your teeth. Since this is not a serious case, it can be treated with proper oral hygiene. If this is left untreated, it will worsen and fall to Periodontitis.


Prevent Periodontitis

Periodontitis is also a gum disease but worse compared to Gingivitis. This is an infection that could cause you to lose a tooth. This is because the soft tissues are affected making also the bone that supports your teeth be destroyed. Same with Gingivitis, this is a result of poor oral hygiene.

Symptoms of Periodontitis are the same as the symptoms of Gingivitis plus more. Added to it is pus in between teeth and gums, feeling pain when you chew, soft gums, gums pulling away, loose teeth, and spaces in between teeth.


Avoid Lockjaw

If you don't take care enough of your dental health, you might lose a tooth. When you lose even just a single tooth, the rest will move to make your teeth misaligned. Having misaligned teeth is one of the causes of lockjaw.


Oral Cancer

New studies suggest that poor oral hygiene could be a cause of oral cancer. Oral cancer may include cancer of the cheeks, tongue, lips, throat, pharynx, palate, sinuses, and mouth floor. Symptoms include bleeding that is out of normal, numbness, the appearance of white and red patches in the mouth, swelling and bumps in gums/mouth, difficulty in chewing, and even ear pain!

There are a lot more that we could name in here about the reasons why we need to take care of our dental health. Always remember that having healthy teeth has a good effect on our overall health. So having bad dental/oral hygiene has also negative effects on our overall health. This is why we should not take for granted even what you think is simple as brushing your teeth.


Ways To Take Care Of Our Dental Health

Now that we have discussed why we need to take care of our dental health, let us now discuss the things that we need to do for us to maintain good and proper dental/oral hygiene.

1. Brushing

You should spend at least two minutes brushing your teeth and it should be done two times a day. When you do brushing, make sure you use the right technique (top-down for upper teeth and down up for lower teeth). It is also recommended that you use toothpaste that has fluoride. Change your toothbrush every three to four months.

Brushing removes plaque and bacteria build-ups in your mouth thus preventing cavities. Make sure that you brush evenly and take care of each tooth because if you miss one and if a cavity develops in it, it will spread to others.


2. Flossing

When your toothbrush, there are areas that cannot be reached by the bristles. If plaque builds in that area, it will still cause cavities. This holds especially in between each tooth. Therefore, flossing is recommended.

Flossing helps remove plaque and leftover food chunks stuck in between each tooth. There are a lot of flosses that you can buy in the market and it comes in different types. There are regular flosses and there are also which are infused with mint/menthol flavor to enhance the flossing experience and increase its cleaning efficiency.


3. Regular Visits To The Dentists

You may be visiting your dentists every time you need a tooth extracted, or if you need dentures, or for any dental problem you need to be fixed. That shouldn't be the case. Your visit to the dentist is ideally every six months.

Your visit to the dentist should be for the prevention of any dental damage, not just for fixing dental problems. It is also recommended that you start visiting the dentist early (link: healthychildren.org) so start bringing your kids already and have their teeth checked as early as possible.