The Best Products and Practices for Great Oral Health
From mouthwash to toothpaste, everyone's oral hygiene is unique. Build your kit to ensure that you're promoting good oral hygiene twice a day, every day.
The Best of Oral Health Care – Best Products for a Beautiful Smile
Achieving a bright, healthy, shiny smile requires a lifetime of care. Even if you’re genetically blessed with great teeth, it’s vital to take care of them properly daily to ensure you maintain that great smile. Oral health is important, not only visually, but for your overall health. A healthy oral routine involves using the right products, as well as practicing healthy habits.
The Importance of Oral Care
Good oral hygiene is directly related to good overall health. Not only does it mean straight and white teeth, but healthy gums and healthy oral tissues including the tongue. Apart from preventing oral diseases such as tooth decay and gum disease, maintaining good oral health can help to prevent diabetes, heart disease, and many other general health issues, too.
Over time, plaque accumulated on the surface of your teeth. Failing to clean your teeth daily will result in an unhealthy build-up of plaque, and eventually lead to gum disease. At its most extreme, gum disease can lead to tooth loss and irreversible tooth decay caused by the bacteria in your mouth. Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and pregnancy issues have been commonly linked to poor oral hygiene and severe gum infections. Having diabetes will increase your chance of developing gum disease, and will also make it more difficult to treat it.
The importance of good oral hygiene practices goes way beyond having a pretty smile. In order to take care of your overall health, consider developing and practicing a good oral healthcare routine daily.
Best Oral Hygiene Practices
Good oral healthcare is more than just brushing your teeth. Even if your routine consists of just brushing your teeth, there are copious techniques that can help to improve your routine. In order to get the best, most efficient dental hygiene routine, consider the following practices:
- Brush your teeth at least twice a day, once in the morning and once before bed.
It isn’t revolutionary to suggest brushing twice a day. However, many of us neglect this rule. Forgetting to brush your teeth at night once isn’t going to cause permanent damage, but you should aim to brush twice a day every single day. Most importantly, be strict about brushing your teeth before bed each night. Brushing at night removes any germs or plaque that has accumulated throughout the day.
- Brush properly.
The correct method to brushing your teeth is super important, and brushing incorrectly can be almost as bad as not brushing at all. Take your time when brushing, move the toothbrush in gentle, circular motions, and make sure you spend time on every single tooth. Unremoved plaque can harden and lead to calculus buildup and gingivitis.
- Don’t neglect your tongue.
Plaque can also build up on your tongue. Not only can this lead to bad breath, but it can lead to other oral health problems. Gently brush your tongue with either your regular toothbrush or a special tongue every time you brush your teeth.
- Flossing is just as important as brushing.
Many people who brush their teeth regularly neglect flossing. Being able to clean those hard-to-reach areas in between your teeth and the line of your gums is a huge part of a healthy mouth. Flossing once a day is usually enough to experience its benefits, such as gum stimulation, reduced plaque, and lower inflammation.
Flossing may be difficult for some people, especially young people and adults with arthritis. Instead of avoiding flossing altogether, try to look for alternative tools that make flossing easier, such as a Waterpik.
- Consider incorporating mouthwash into your routine.
Experts explain that mouthwash can reduce acid in the mouth, clean hard-to-reach areas, and re-mineralize the teeth. Mouthwashes are key in maintaining a well-balanced acidity level in your mouth, which can prevent tooth decay. Additionally, it can help with bad breath and eliminating any plaque particles that may linger after flossing and brushing.
- Increase your water intake.
Water is universally known to help improve your overall health as well as oral health. Try drinking water after every meal, as this can reduce any negative effects of sticky and acidic foods or beverages in between brushing.
- Avoid overly acidic or sugary foods and beverages.
Sugar actually converts into acid within the mouth, which can damage and erode the enamel of your teeth. This ultimately leads to cavities. Acidic fruits, teas, and coffee can also significantly damage your teeth’s enamel. While you don’t need to cut these foods and beverages out altogether, it is in your best interest to be mindful and try and limit them as much as possible.
- Schedule regular dentist visits.
While practicing good oral health practices is a great step in the right direction, sometimes we need a little professional help. Even the most loyal brushers and flossers still need regular visits to the dentist. You should aim to visit your dentist at least twice a year, for checkups and thorough cleanings. Not only can a dentist remove any calculus and spot any cavities, but they will able be able to spot and treat potential health issues before they become unmanageable.
Choosing The Right Products for You
While it may be overwhelming to shop through aisles and aisles of toothpaste, tooth brushes, and mouthwash, understanding your teeth and their needs is vital in establishing an effective oral health routine. A great routine consists of more than just a good toothbrush, and even then, what constitutes a “good” toothbrush? With so many different kinds of tooth paste out there, which one should you buy? Are there different kinds of dental floss? Well, let’s investigate.
Toothpaste
If you find yourself confused by staring at colourful shelves filled with tons of different toothpaste options, you’re not alone. Whitening, fluoride, breath freshening, tartar protection… the options can seem endless. When considering what type of toothpaste is best for you, consider the following:
- Do you have sensitive teeth?
- Are you hoping to whiten your teeth?
- Do you need tartar protection?
- Do you have sensitive gums, gingivitis, or other gum disease?
- Are you looking for a kid-friendly toothpaste that will encourage them to build their own oral hygiene routine?
These are all questions to consider for your next shopping trip. When purchasing a new toothpaste, make sure to check the label for fluoride, find the ADA Seal of Acceptance, and check for abrasive ingredients. This small checklist will often eliminate options that aren’t safe for use on your teeth. From there, it’s all dependent on your needs and preferences. If you aren’t able to tell what you need just by yourself, consider visiting your dentist. They will inform you if you need special toothpaste for any concerns they may have about your teeth.
A few things you should be mindful to avoid when purchasing toothpaste:
- In tartar control toothpaste, avoid anything that has Triclosan. This ingredient is an antibiotic that kills all mouth bacteria, including the bacteria that helps start the breakdown process of food.
- The ADA recommends avoiding toothpaste made in China. Non-ADA approved toothpaste can contain chemicals unsafe for oral use.
Mouthwash
Highly neglected, mouthwash is a key element to any good oral hygiene routine. Even if you don’t have any existing oral health issues, it’s still a great idea to incorporate mouthwash into your daily routine. Look for mouthwashes that contain fluoride, which helps to prevent tooth decay and strengthens tooth enamel. Using a mouthwash with antiplaque, antibacterial, antimicrobial, or anti-gingivitis ingredients isn’t a bad idea either.
Much like toothpaste, be aware of mouthwash that contains the ADA Seal of Acceptance. This informs you that it is fully safe to use, and has been approved by the American Dental Association. While mouthwash is easier than brushing and flossing, it is not a substitute for the two. Mouthwash should be used in combination with the two for best results.
Floss
Dental floss helps to achieve your cleanest clean. By flossing regularly, you can remove plaque in all the hard-to-reach places that a regular brush can’t reach. Most people aren’t aware that there are different types of dental floss available. Thinner options are best for people who have tightly-spaced teeth. The thinner floss is able to squeeze between your teeth without forcing floss in and risking it getting stuck. On the other hand, if you have more space between your teeth, consider a thicker floss. Traditional floss is more on the thicker side, and thinner floss is commonly called “dental tape.”
For those with limited hand dexterity, consider a flossing pick or other options. Waterpik water flossers use a pressurized stream of pulsating water to clean away food particles, bacteria, and plaque between the teeth and under the gumline. They are fantastic options for people with limited motion in their hands, braces, crowns, or dental implants. While they are more expensive than traditional floss, the benefits are just as great with significantly less effort.
Toothbrush
Over the years, the traditional manual toothbrush has been updated and altered to provide the best clean to any kind of teeth. When shopping for a manual toothbrush, it’s important to consider the bristle hardness, head space, bristle pattern, and handle design. It is generally recommended to go for a brush with soft bristles, as brushing with too hard of bristles can cause gum irritation.
If you prefer, you can invest in an electric toothbrush. An electric toothbrush will automatically either rotate or oscillate its brush’s bristles. There are many different types of electric toothbrushes, too. Some have a smaller head for those with smaller teeth, some have sensitivity sensors to ensure you’re not brushing with too much force, etc.
There are three recent types of electric toothbrushes: a standard power toothbrush, a sonic toothbrush, and an ultrasonic toothbrush. A standard power toothbrush is any kind of powered toothbrush, a sonic toothbrush is powered enough to produce a hum in an audible frequency, and an ultrasonic toothbrush is a powered toothbrush that’s faster than a sonic toothbrush.
Traditional toothbrushes as we know them today are great at removing surface-level impurities and plaque. However, discolouration and other beyond-the-surface impurities are left untreated. This all changes with the invention of the ToothWave by Silk’n.
ToothWave is the first toothbrush to use DentalRF technology to reduce existing tartar and the appearance of stains on the teeth. It releases a mild Radiofrequency wave of charged molecules that destabilize the molecular bonds formed by discolouration, stains, and tartar on the tooth. Its traditional brush head removes surface-level plaque while its charged plates offer a deep clean that’s never been offered on the market before.
This toothbrush is perfect for anyone with stains, tartar, discolouration, or anyone looking to drastically improve their daily routine! Learn more about the ToothWave today!
Build Your Own Routine
Now that you know the ins and outs of a great oral hygiene routine, it’s time to start building your own. The first step is figuring out what your teeth and mouth need, and then you can start adding items into your already-existing routine to make it that much better. Everyone’s oral health needs are different, so their hygiene routines are different too. So, figure out your own needs, figure out which products and tools work best for addressing those needs, and start prioritizing your oral health!
