10 Tips to Keep Teeth Healthy

The only way to have a great smile is with proper oral hygiene and good dietary habits. Here are some tips to help you keep or get that beautiful, bright smile.

1.  Learn to Brush the Right Way

It should normally take two minutes to brush each time. You should be holding the brush at a 45 degree angle while brushing lightly against your teeth and gums. Pressing down too hard could damage the outer shell of the teeth, also known as enamel. Use a soft toothbrush and brush twice a day especially after meals. Don’t neglect the back teeth and tongue.

2. Floss

It is recommended that you floss once a day. Food and plaque can be found between our teeth in those hard to reach spaces that our toothbrush just can’t quite get to. Flossing prevents that leftover food from staying embedded between the teeth and hardening into tartar or calculus. It doesn’t matter whether you floss before or after your meal, just do it.

3.  Limit Sugar in Food

Be careful of the sugars that are hidden in foods. Try to switch out sugary foods and drinks for fruits and water. It’s no secret that sugar is the cause for cavities. According to Colgate.com, each time you consume food and drinks that contain sugars or starches, the bacteria in plaque produce acids that attack your teeth for twenty minutes or more. That’s more of a reason to ease up on the sugar if you ask me.

4. Avoid Staining Your Teeth

Want pearly whites? Avoid any dark food or drink items which are prone to stain and darken your teeth. Excessive intake of dark food and drink items such as wines, coffee and tea can cause staining of teeth. Red wines produce tooth-discoloring pigments. Red and white wines both contain acid, which can erode enamel and can cause stains from other foods or drinks to penetrate more deeply. Another thing is there is dryness of the mouth due to tannins  present in red wine. Smoking is the other main culprit.

5. Replace Your Toothbrush

Change your toothbrush every three months. Old bristles could be hard and can cause damage to teeth and gums.

6. Prevent Teeth Injuries

Ever use your teeth to open that stubborn package? Well stop! You are at risk of chipping or breaking your teeth. No more opening bottles, chewing ice or anything of that nature. Your teeth should be just for chewing food. Avoid hard or frozen lollies or foods. Also, when participating in sports, wear a mouth guard to protect against trauma to your teeth.

7. See your dentist

Many people fail to see a dentist each year. Most dental diseases can be prevented with regular hygiene appointments and good hygiene practices at home. The earlier a problem is detected, the better. Some other reasons to visit your dentist include sensitive teeth to cold or hot temperatures, persistent bad breath, or spots or sores in your mouth that never seem to heal or go away. However, just going regularly is best because some symptoms aren’t as obvious. Dentist visits should occur at least twice a year.

8. Use Mouthwash

Although not necessary, some mouthwashes can kill or reduce the bacteria in your mouth. Mouthwash also helps to freshen the breath.

9. Watch your diet

Proper nutrition helps keep your teeth and gums healthy. The nutrients and minerals in your diet help can help you fight or resist infections.  Eating more fibrous food like vegetables and fruit is helpful and is best to avoid sugars. When it comes to drinks, water is the best!

10. Limit Alcohol 

Drinking alcohol can lead to a reduction of saliva production by drying out the mouth. Saliva plays an important part in oral hygiene health as it is responsible for bathing the teeth and removing some plaque and bacteria that have accumulated on the surface of the teeth. The less plaque you have the less risk of any bacteria causing teeth decay. Just try to keep water on hand and rinse every so often.

Why does my mouth feel dry all the time?

We often hear this question asked by a lot of people. Your once well moist mouth suddenly decides to go completely dry and you are left helpless with no idea what to do. Dry mouth is a condition commonly referred to as XEROSTOMIA in the medical field. This condition is experienced when the production of saliva in the mouth is not enough. It could be due to reasons like being agitated or upset. Everyone goes through this problem once or a few times in their lives, but if you are having a dry mouth most of the time, it could be a sign of severe health problems.

Problems Caused by Dry Mouth

We all know that the production of saliva is very important because besides keeping the mouth wet it also helps in digestion of food. It also prevents tooth decay and helps in prevention of infections caused by different bacteria and fungi in the mouth. Having a dry mouth can cause you the following problems:

• Difficulty in tasting and chewing food.
• Difficulty in swallowing food.
• It may cause difficulty in speaking.
• Increase the chances of dental decay and infections caused by bacteria in the mouth.

Symptoms of Dry Mouth

• You feel thirsty frequently.
• Your tongue gets dry, red and raw.
• You feel a burning sensation in your mouth.
• Sores appear at the corners of the mouth and this can be characterised by cracked lips.
• Your breath smells bad.

So what really causes Dry Mouth?

Dry mouth is caused by poor functionality of glands that produce saliva. The following are reasons that can cause these glands to not work properly:

• It could be a side effect of some medication you are taking, e.g. medications for high blood pressure and depression have been known to cause dry mouth.
• It could be a side effect of certain diseases e.g. hyper-tension, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and mumps.
• High frequency radiations can also be a cause of dry mouth.
• Autoimmune diseases like Sjorgen syndrome
• Normal dehydration.
• Mouth breathing

Treatment for Dry Mouth

There are different medications available for dry mouth that can increase the production of saliva. You can follow the following few steps to help with dry mouth.

• Use water regularly

Keeping a water bottle handy is the best thing for dry mouth. keep sipping water at regular intervals and also during meals help keeping the mouth wet.

• Use mouthwash

Try using a mouthwash designed for dry mouth especially the ones containing xylitol like Biotene mouth rinse (Xylitol is a SA/sugar alcohol which is a little eatable carbohydrate that resists starches plus includes fibre). Do not use mouthwashes that contain alcohol because that can cause more dryness.

• Use saliva substitutes

Use of over the counter saliva substitutes can help such as Biotene oral balance.

• Chew sugar free gum

By chewing sugar free gums and hard candies the production of saliva is increased that can prevent from dry mouth. Most sugar free candies contain xylitol that can cause diarrhea on large consumption so consume it as prescribed by the dentist.

• Change in dietary habits

Avoid any drinks with caffeine such as coffee, tea and sodas. Caffeine can make your mouth drier so limit your intake amount of caffeine.

• Stop using tobacco

Tobacco has always been a cause of several minor to fatal health problems, and dry mouth is no exception. With prolonged use, tobacco can cause a mouth disease called leukoplakia, characterised by white patches and oral lesions on cheeks, gums and tongue which can eventually lead to oral cancer.

• Breathe through your nose

Try breathing through your nose as much as possible and avoid using your mouth as mouth breathing increases dryness. It is best to check with a doctor if you are mouth breather as there could be some underlying reason for it.

• Improve oral hygiene

Gently brush your teeth at least twice a day with a toothpaste containing fluoride. You can also use a fluoride rinse or a fluoride gel before going to bed. This is important as dry mouth increases the risk of tooth decay.

• Avoid sugary or acidic food

Try to lessen your intake of sugary foods, acidic foods and sweet candies, as they can cause tooth decay. In case you just consumed some, always brush your teeth immediately afterwards.

If these steps do not help in improving your dry mouth, do not wait any longer. You should visit your dentist for further consultation and treatment immediately.