You have probably been teaching your children since a young age that the best way to maintain good oral health is by brushing and flossing. If you have found that brushing and flossing just isn’t giving you the standard of hygiene that your family longs for, you are in luck. There are a number of lesser-known things that you can do to improve your overall oral hygiene that extends beyond everyday brushing and flossing.
Improve The Overall Ecosystem of Your Mouth
There are both bad and good bacteria in your mouth. Too much bad bacteria is responsible for halitosis, gingivitis, and other gum diseases. Luckily, mouths also produce beneficial bacteria via saliva to help keep these harmful bacteria in check.
If a mouth isn’t salivating enough, the ecosystem of that mouth swings out of balance and is more likely to experience negative side effects. If you find that your family experiences mouth dryness often, don’t just ignore it. Chronic dry mouth solutions can be provided by a doctor or dentist. Sugar-free gum can also help increase saliva production.
Pop Some Probiotics
You may have heard that probiotics are beneficial to your gut and your digestive system, but did you know that they are also beneficial to excellent oral hygiene?
Probiotics, whether taken in pill form or introduced into the body by a mouthwash, help the good bacteria mentioned earlier flourish. Larger amounts of good bacteria mean quicker and more efficient reduction of bad bacteria.
Probiotics not only more quickly destroy bad bacteria, but they help prevent large amounts of biofilm, film filled with bad bacteria that coats teeth, from forming.
For best results in improving your family’s oral hygiene, a probiotic should be taken daily. Additionally, you can also purchase special mouthwashes that contain probiotics that you and your family can use daily.
Wait to Brush
It may seem counter-intuitive, but encourage your family to wait about an hour to brush after meals with high acidity or staining potential. If you don’t wait to brush, you may be spreading around and further exposing your teeth to acids that cause the breakdown of your teeth’s enamel. Foods like citrus fruits or berries; vegetables like lentils; certain cheeses; coffee; wine; and soft drinks should also follow this rule to help avoid harmful deterioration.
Straighten Those Crooked Teeth
There are a number of oral health issues that are caused by crooked teeth. Crooked teeth make it more difficult to clean the plaque build-up in between teeth and near the gums, causing gum disease and cavities. Crooked teeth can also worsen bad breath if the bacteria that causes it isn’t removed properly. Talking to your family dentist or orthodontist can help you get a better idea of what it will take to straighten out any teeth that could be contributing to oral health problems and help educate you on the best treatments, like Invisalign, to help prevent further problems. A quick Google search of “local dentist that do Invisalign near me” will net you a list of options for your treatment.
Along with trying these lesser-known tricks to improve your oral hygiene, talk to a dentist about the various ways to keep your family’s gums, teeth, and mouth at their best. With a little help, work, and consistency, there is no reason that your family can’t have the best oral health in town!
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