Your teeth need to be protected from a broad array of issues, but it can be hard to fully understand how to offer this protection in a focused and reasonable way. So if you’re worried about your dental health and need steps to ensure that you protect yourself properly, make sure to read through this list right now. The tips outlined below are designed to enhance and preserve oral health and will be suggested by any dentist in Iowa City, Coralville, or North Liberty, Iowa.
Change Your Toothbrush More Often
Few people realize that they need to change their toothbrushes a lot more often than they probably do throughout the year. Though your bristles may be intact in some ways on your brush for a year or more, they will lose a lot of their ability to destroy plaque and clean your teeth. As a result, you need to make sure that you change your toothbrush at least every 2-3 months or so.
Beyond improving the quality of your brushing, this step also helps to minimize the number of bacteria that get in your mouth. Simply put, after a few months, your toothbrush head will have a large volume of bacteria living inside of it. And brushing your teeth with it will break apart some plaque but also concentrate these living creatures on your teeth in a way that can sabotage your dental health.
So make sure that you talk to your dentist about this schedule and to find one that works for your needs. If you have an electric toothbrush, the situation is just the same. Instead, you need to change the heads of your brush on the same schedule rather than the whole toothbrush. Thankfully, you can often find inexpensive replacement brush heads in packs of 3-4, which can help to save you even more money.
Change Up Your Diet a Little
When you visit your dentist, you need to be able to tell them that you made healthy food decisions and that you tried to avoid damaging items, like sugary candy, in your diet. Just as importantly, you need to be able to tell them that you cut out on foods that can stain and damage your teeth. These foods may be healthy for you, in some ways, but can also cause stains on your teeth, tongue, and gums that are hard to eliminate without help.
For example, a glass of red wine a day may keep the doctor away, but it is also staining your teeth and causing other problems. Colas, coffee, and tea also have a terrible tendency to stain the teeth, which can lead to a broader spread of bacteria and plaque throughout your mouth. Even worse, surprising foods like gravy can also stain your teeth and need to be cut out as soon as possible to protect your teeth.
Good foods for your teeth include various types of hard vegetables, like baby carrots. Carrots have an abrasive surface once they’ve been broken apart and chewed. As you chew on them further, the fibers from the carrot will rub against your teeth, gums, and tongue. This abrasive action will break apart plaque and bacteria and help keep your teeth stronger. Cooked carrots don’t have the same effect, but do have vitamins and minerals that may help with your oral health.
Don’t Forget Your Tongue
Your dentist has probably told you a thousand times that you need to brush your tongue and yet you don’t listen. This simple step is one that provides a lot of protection for your teeth and your overall oral health. For example, people who brush their tongues typically have better breath and rarely suffer from halitosis. As a result, this is both an aesthetic and practical choice that should produce good results.
When you brush your tongue, you should make sure to clean all of its surface to get good results. Brush lengthwise on the tongue to break apart a significant portion of its plaque. You should then brush against the grain to further catch any problematic bacteria. You must also make sure that you focus your attention under the tongue, particularly where it meets the gums, to destroy clever and hard-to-find bacteria and plaque.
There is no real limit on how often you should brush your tongue to achieve positive effects. Some people may only want to do it once a day. Others may brush their tongue every time that they clean their teeth. A useful guide is to brush your tongue when you wake up in the morning and just before you go to bed. This cleaning schedule provides a good minimum that should ensure your teeth are as strong as possible.
Baking Soda: A Clever Brushing Extra
Lastly, you should consider adding a little baking soda to your brushing routine to whiten and sterilize your teeth and mouth. While many kinds of toothpaste come with some baking soda already added to their mixture, the concentration is often quite low and may be diluted. As a result, you should add some fresh baking soda to your toothpaste at least with one brushing every day to get dental protection results that should satisfy just about anybody.
For example, brushing with baking soda will destroy a large number of bacteria and stains on your teeth. Even better, baking soda has a natural whitening effect that will polish your teeth and make them more attractive and resistant to various types of wear and tear damage. Removing stains and whitening your teeth in this way is both an aesthetic and practical decision that makes this option an excellent choice for most people.
This tip is one that any dentist near you will suggest as a way of improving your teeth quality and ensuring that you get the best whitening protection available. Even better, baking soda can also help to sterilize your teeth in a way that manages problematic bacteria and keeps your oral health as positive as possible. Make sure to put only a small amount on your brush – no more than a drop or a few grains should be more than enough to produce positive results.
Get the Help That You Need
As you can see, protecting your smile requires you to take a large number of preventative steps and to adjust your life’s routine in a few ways. And if you need the best dentist Iowa City, Coralville, or North Liberty, Iowa has to offer, please contact us at Classic Smiles right away to learn more. Our professionals have worked for years learning how to provide proper dental care. We can also give you the insight that you need to ensure that your teeth are protected and secure for years to come.