How Exactly Would You Describe Dentistry?
Dentistry is a profession to prevent and treat gum disease and various other diseases of the teeth [2]. It involves correcting jaw alignment, fixing cavities, and more. Visiting the dentist two times per year is essential if you want to keep your teeth and gums healthy. Dentists can help in a variety of ways from assessing your mouth to ensuring everything is good to help prevent a lot of future issues. At a dentist’s office, you’ll get professional cleaning too. Here are some tips on keeping your mouth healthy.
Tips:
1. Brush and Floss Regularly
One of the most important things you need to do when you are looking to keep your mouth healthy is to brush and floss regularly every day. You want to brush first thing when you wake up and right before you go sleep. This is generally going to be good enough for you to maintain optimal oral hygiene. If at all possible, you can brush mid-day or at least floss after you eat. This will help to get rid of any excess bacteria or plaque that builds up after you eat lunch. This is something you need to do daily/nightly. You cannot skip brushing sessions. Also, you want to ensure you are doing it properly every day. This means brushing for a minimum of 2 minutes each session.
2. Go To The Dentist
As mentioned previously, you need to visit the dentist a minimum of twice per year. You want to visit a dentist every six months. That way, they can check out your mouth and assess it. They will do x-rays on your mouth to see whether or not there are any issues with your jaw, bones, or anything else. Visiting a dentist regularly not only allows you to get your teeth professionally cleaned, but they can check up on your soft tissue and more.
3. Use Mouthwash
While mouthwash isn’t 100% essential for maintaining healthy teeth and gums, it does help. Using mouthwash is a good way to kill off excess bacteria that you cannot get from brushing or flossing. It’s also a good way to keep your breath smelling good.
4. Maintain a Good pH
One of the reasons why you may develop cavities has to do with your saliva’s pH being out of balance. You need to maintain a healthy pH in your mouth. You want your pH to not be too acidic. Having your pH be too acidic is one of the easiest ways to develop cavities. Try to maintain optimal pH by not eating too many sugary foods or drinking sugary beverages. You’ll also want to avoid eating a lot of candy. Anything that has sugar is going to set your saliva’s pH out of balance. This can result in you feeding the bacteria that thrive on sugar. If you don’t eat sugar, bacteria cannot thrive in your mouth. Another good option you have is to continue drinking a lot of water. The more water you drink, the more hydrated you’ll be. Also, washing away sugary foods with water is always a good idea.
Overall, there is a lot that you need to learn about the importance of dentistry if you want to keep your mouth healthy. While visiting the dentist is important, you also need to do your work at home to keep your mouth healthy. There is a lot you can do to improve your gum and teeth health. Use the tips above and you should be able to improve your dental hygiene and avoid a lot of issues that you might otherwise have to deal with.
Dr. Gerald Regni, DMD
937 Christian St
Philadelphia, PA 19147
(215) 351-9399