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ORAL & DENTAL HYGIENE

Oral hygiene includes all the processes for keeping the mouth clean and healthy. Good oral hygiene is necessary for the prevention of dental caries, periodontal diseases, bad breath and other dental problems.
        
 Prevention is always better than treatment. Good oral hygiene habits will keep away most of the dental problems saving you from toothaches and costly dental treatments.
The interesting part is that it can be achieved by dedicating only some minutes every day to dental hygiene care. A large number of various oral hygiene products, beyond the usual toothpaste and toothbrush, are available in the market to help you in this effort.
Unfortunately, most of us remember the importance of oral hygiene instructions only when a problem occurs. Research has shown that while patient activation can show an immediate improvement in oral hygiene habits, only a small percentage keeps the same standards six months later. Maintaining good dental hygiene should be a lifelong everyday habit.
Awareness regarding the importance of oral hygiene has significantly increased in the developed countries, but contrary to that, the modern dietary lifestyle habits are posing a greater risk for oral health. Healthy teeth not only enable you to look and feel good, they make it possible to eat and speak properly. Good oral health is important to your overall well-being.
Daily preventive oral care, with proper brushing and flossing, will help stop dental problems before they develop and are much less painful, expensive, and worrisome than treating conditions that have been allowed to progress.
 

SIGNS OF GOOD ORAL HYGIENE
bullet    Your teeth are clean and free of debris .
bullet    Gums are pink and do not hurt or bleed when you brush or floss .
bullet    Bad breath is not a constant problem .
bullet    Tongue is clean and healthy.
Mouth is free from any kind of abnormality
 

The Important  steps in maintaining good dental hygiene are:    

        

  It is important to learn how to maintain good dental hygiene from early childhood. Parents should teach their children the proper use of oral hygiene products. Good oral hygiene should be a joined effort involving you and your dentist. Not all of us have the same needs. In between regular visits to the dentist, there are simple steps that each of us can take to greatly decrease the risk of developing tooth decay, gum disease and other dental problems.
 

  • Keep your teeth clean and bright

  • Brush them every day and night

  • Drink lots of water every day

  • Throw the fizzy drink away.

  • Brush your teeth with a soft toothbrush

  • Very careful, please don't rush.

Good nutrition certainly contributes to overall good health, but cannot ensure that your children will develop strong, disease-resistant teeth. Other factors are equally important in preventing tooth decay. Many factors influence whether your children will develop cavities, and diet does not matter too much if you pay attention to important steps, such as practicing good oral hygiene, getting enough fluoride daily, going for regular dental check-ups, and having your dentist apply a protective sealant to your back teeth.
Many of the foods we eat, including some of the most valuable foods from the standpoint of human nutrition, provide nourishment for the bacteria in the mouth. These bacteria act on the sugar in the diet and secrete acids, that can erode enamel, and lead to cavities. We feed the bacteria in our mouth every time we eat carbohydrates. These come in two types:
1. Sugars
2. Cooked starch - like bread and biscuits, which are broken down to sugars by an enzyme in the saliva. The bacteria in the mouth then treat them as though you had eaten plain sugar. Sweets like cake and candy are not much worse for your teeth than bread, biscuits, potato chips, fruit salad, and a glass of milk.
To the bacteria in your mouth, sugar is sugar, no matter what package it comes in. So candy is as bad as, or as good as, apples for the teeth.
 

 Tooth Brushing-Brush your teeth at least twice a day after every meal wit fluoride toothpaste . Regular tooth brushing is very important in preventing tooth decay and gum disease. Brushing your teeth removes the bacteria of dental plaque that promote tooth decay and that can cause gum disease.
  • Brush your teeth well twice a day (after breakfast and last thing before going to bed).
    Use a small toothbrush with soft bristles. Hard and medium bristled toothbrushes can damage teeth and gums.
  • Use fluoride (say flu-or-ide) toothpaste. From 6 years of age you can use adult toothpaste, but make sure you spit it out when you have finished cleaning your teeth. Children under 6 need to use a special children's toothpaste.
  • Place your toothbrush next to the teeth so that it rests on the gumline (the point where the teeth and the gums meet) , forming a 45 degrees angle against teeth and gums.
     Move the toothbrush from the gums towards the edge of teeth to move the dental plaque away from the gum line.
  • Move the brush back and forth gently in short (1½ tooth wide) strokes.
  • After brushing, one by one tooth, all the outer teeth surfaces do the same for the inner surfaces.
    Brush the chewing surfaces of the teeth with horizontal moves.
  •  Spit out the toothpaste and rinse your mouth with water or mouthwash.


How to Brush Properly

Proper brushing take at least 2 minutes –(120 seconds ). Most people don’t even brush that long you can also try using a stop clack

  • Use short gentle stroke.
  • Pay extra attention to gum line.
  • Back teeth.
  • Clean outer surface then lower surface.
  • Clean inner and upper teeth.
  • Brush your tongue also.

Keeping your toothbrush safe from germs

  • After brushing, rinse your toothbrush under running water.
  • Store your toothbrush in a clean dry place.
  • Do not share a toothbrush as this can spread germs.
  • Replace your toothbrush often.
  • Wash your hands after going to the toilet and before using your toothbrush.
     

 

 Flossing Teeth -Floss you teeth at least once in a day. The use of dental floss is essential in preventing dental diseases. Toothbrush can't reach difficult areas of the teeth as the interdental spaces. Using dental floss at least once a day provides effective removal of dental plaque and cleaning between the teeth.
Use of Flossing
  • The main benefits of flossing are the mechanical removal of food residuals and dental plaque bacteria from teeth and gums. Use of dental floss should be an indispensable part of your daily oral hygiene routine.
  • Although it is suggested -as for tooth brushing- that you floss after each meal, using dental floss even only once a day could be enough to keep you in good oral health, assuming of course that you do it thoroughly and effectively using proper flossing methods. If you use dental floss only once per day, prefer flossing teeth at night before you go to bed.
  • Regarding the duration of flossing, the answer is simple : 'as long it takes' (depending on your dexterity and expertise on how to use dental floss).
  • It is normal to have some gum bleeding when flossing. Do not suspend flossing. On the contrary, gum bleeding is a sign that your oral hygiene is not perfect and you should be more persistent in brushing and flossing teeth.
  • After flossing use disclosing tablets to check if dental plaque has been removed.

How to Floss

  • Proper flossing remove plaque and food particle where a toothbrush cannot easily reach –under the gum line, between teeth.
  • To prevent plaque daily flossing is highly recommended.
  •  Start with an 18 inch of floss. Wind it around each middle finger.
  • Hold the floss between your thumbs and index fingers slide it gently up and down between your teeth.
  • Gently curve the floss around the base of each teeth.
  •  Use clean section of floss as you tooth to tooth.

    Type of floss advisable:
  • Nylon ( Multifilament) floss.
  •  PTFE( Monofilament) floss.
  • The former compose of worked strands and is in variety of flavors.
  • The latter is more expensive floss and slides easily between the teeth and is virtually shared resistant.
     

 
Good Eating Habits-Watch your diet. Avoid sugar and limit snacks between meals Our nutrition can play an important role in maintaining good oral health. Learn about the Relationship of Nutrition and Dental health.
  •   Choose a wide variety of healthy foods every day.
  • Finish a meal with a drink of water - this washes your teeth and mouth.
  • Choose tap water as a drink. It is tooth-friendly and your body likes it too. Don't have lots of fizzy drinks especially ones that contain sugars and acids. These can cause tooth decay. Bottled water is not so good for teeth. It does not have fluoride in it.
  • Where possible choose medicines and cough lollies that are sugar free.
  • Milk and cheese are tooth-friendly foods. They contain minerals, which will help to repair tooth enamel.

Two important factors affecting tooth decay are:

1. How often you eat: The mouth normally contains a wide variety of bacteria. These bacteria take advantage of food whenever it is available. So they become active whether you eat a full meal or just a small snack, and they remain active - producing acids that can cause cavities - for about 30 minutes after you eat. This is how frequent eating contributes to tooth decay, and can be easily modified by exerting a bit of self-control.

2. How long a particular food stays in the mouth after you eat it: The most commonly thought of sticky foods are chocolates. The chocolate is mostly sugar that dissolves in saliva and is cleared from the mouth fairly quickly. However, foods like biscuits and potato chips stay longer in the mouth than chocolates. This is because these do not dissolve in saliva and clear the mouth until they have been broken down into simpler sugars by the enzymes in the saliva. This process is likely to take hours, and in the meantime, the bacteria have a feast and secrete acids, which destroy the enamel of your teeth.
 


 
 Visiting your dentist-The dentist will identify your individual needs and help you build your own oral care plan.  Regular oral checkups are an essential part of the dental hygiene routine for young and old alike.
  • Your dentist, if visited regularly, will detect and prevent any dental problem before it becomes hazardous for your teeth.
  • The structure of the aging mouth is changing constantly. This can affect speech, eating, and even hearing, so seniors should also maintain a regular six-month schedule of checkups.
  • Report any abnormality that appears in your mouth to your dentist immediately.