A Female Dentist In Greenwood, IN Shares Some Key Tips To Achieve Good Oral Hygiene

A lot of trusted dental practitioners say that many of the oral health problems encountered by adults today such as gum disease, oral cancer, and breakdown of dental fillings can be easily prevented when you have a clear grasp of and practice the basics of oral hygiene.

But what exactly is good oral hygiene? A trusted female dentist in Greenwood, IN explains that having good oral hygiene means having clean teeth, the gums are in good condition (meaning that these do not hurt or bleed during brushing and flossing and have a healthy pink color) and one’s breath smells fresh and good all the time.

If you are regularly having bouts with gum diseases, bad breath and other forms of dental issues, this means you do not have good oral hygiene and you need to consult a dentist immediately as these are indicative of a larger dental problem.

Good Oral Hygiene Tips
 
Below are some good oral hygiene tips you can practice to avoid and prevent various dental problems from occurring:

Brushing

• Always choose a soft-bristled toothbrush.
• Use only a pea-sized dab of fluoride toothpaste.
• Brush your teeth for just two to three minutes and then rinse your mouth with water.
• When brushing, use the edge of the toothbrush in a massaging motion. You can also consider using a child's toothbrush to brush at the gum line.
• Use a small circular motion when moving the brush across the teeth.
• When brushing, place the toothbrush against the teeth at a 45-degree angle to the gum line.
• To clean one tooth properly at a time, keep the tips of the bristles against the gum line without pressing too hard. This will allow the bristles to reach into gaps between the teeth. Use the same small circular motion when cleaning the backside of the upper and lower teeth as well.
• Give your tongue a few gentle brush strokes by brushing from the back of your tongue forward. This remove bacteria from your tongue and helps freshens your breath. 

 Flossing

• Floss your teeth once a day to get rid of food and plaque between the teeth, the usual areas where your toothbrush cannot reach. This oral hygiene practice keeps your gums healthy it will remove plaque and leftover foods from your teeth.

• Use a clean section of floss as needed and take up used floss by winding it around your fingers.

• After flossing, rinse your mouth.

Rinsing with mouthwash

• Rinsing with mouthwash helps prevent bad breath, oral infections, and tooth decay. However, using this product regularly doesn’t mean you should stop brushing or flossing your teeth.

The above are just some of the basic tips you should follow to have and maintain good oral hygiene. Visiting your dentist regularly is also a key element of having good oral hygiene. Regular visits to the dentist can help you prevent potential dental problems.

By Sylvia Rosenbum, a dental hygienist, with resource information from http://www.choicedentalcentre.com/cosmetic-dentistry-greenwood.