Read This To Learn How To Properly Care For Teeth

“You’re never fully dressed without a smile,” as the famous Annie line says. But how can you be fully dressed if your smile is crooked or if you have barely any teeth to show? In this article, you’ll be able to know more about how your teeth function and the do’s and don’ts of caring for it.

How Your Teeth Function

Your teeth’s main purpose is to break down the food you eat so that it’s easier to swallow. It chews food so that the nutrients and minerals will be easily absorbed by your stomach. With this alone, you can understand how much bacteria your teeth are exposed to, not to mention the bacteria that are already residing in your saliva.

But just like any other body part, your teeth need caring and proper hygiene. Neglected teeth can lead to dental infection or accumulation of plaque which is your mouth’s #1 enemy.

Plaque is a thin, colorless film that is produced by the bacteria in your mouth when they convert food and drink debris into acid. When plaque takes over your teeth, they become weak and eventually, they are prone to falling off even if you’re not that old to have loose teeth.

Although there are tooth replacements available for when your tooth falls off, they can be quite expensive. Also, do you want to wait for that time when your teeth become severely damaged that you have to spend a lot on a replacement? If not, then you should start prioritizing your dental health, too.

 

The Dos and Don’ts of Dental Care

 

Do: brush regularly and properly

It’s one thing to brush your teeth, but it is another thing to brush properly. When it comes to brushing, there is a right angle and a right toothbrush to use so that you can make sure all the food residue is taken out.

The right way to brush is to use a toothbrush that has thin or fine bristles that can clean the space in between your teeth. It would also be better if at the back of the brush head is a tongue cleaner that you can rub when brushing.

To brush properly, start with one side of your teeth brushing up and down starting from the back. Work your way to your front teeth with the same strokes. Brush the back of your teeth to with a 45-degree angle tilt of your toothbrush.

 

Don’t: consume too much sweets and alcoholic beverages

One of the culprits in the formation of plaque are sweets and alcoholic beverages. If you want to take care of your teeth, you should shy away from eating too much candy, dessert, and chocolates. At the same time, you should also avoid drinking too much alcohol because they have the same effect on your teeth.

 

Do: eat food that make you salivate

When you have more saliva, more bacteria will be able to clean and protect your teeth. The foods you should eat more of to have more saliva production is citrus fruits like oranges, kiwis, berries, or any food that is sour enough.

Apple cider vinegar is a good drink to make you salivate. One tablespoon a day will be helpful in cleaning out the residue in your teeth. At the same time, ACV is known to have whitening properties. You can gargle it every day to whiten your teeth.

 

Don’t: put off seeing your dentist

A lot of people are not keen to meeting their dentist. In fact, some people don’t even visit their dentist at least twice a year. The recommended visits you should have annually is two and this is for your dentist to make deep teeth cleaning and to give you an assessment of your overall dental health. If there are treatments and adjustments needed to be done, then you need to visit your dentist more often.

If you have noticed, the dos and don’ts here are fairly simple. That’s the thing about dental care – that you can do a lot of simple things to keep it healthy and clean. However, a lot of people find this hard to do simply because their teeth are the least of their concern. Nonetheless, you have to remember that your teeth need protecting and caring too just like the other parts of your body.