Basic dental hygiene covers cleaning, flossing, avoiding foods bad for teeth and maintaining diet health to maintain strong healthy teeth and gums. Candy and sweets create cavities and allow harmful bacteria to reside in mouth longer than necessary. Enamel discoloration can occur naturally over time or become more pronounced later in years.
Food intake and average diets low in calcium and dairy protein will see respective problems in later teeth and maxillofacial health in later life. The ability of the dental environment to prevent decay and gum disease actively interacts with diet and lifestyle and living habits over time. Abbreviated teeth whitening and cosmetic procedures to lighten teeth are now available.
Bones stop don’t stop growing until after age 30, so don’t think wisdom teeth removal or a few cavities treated clears the deck for white teeth until middle or old age. Extreme diets and nutrient poor lifestyles can really shave whiteness from teeth later on. The expense of retaining healthy teeth is much less than polishing, veneers or dentures later on.
The diet is a great way to ensure strong white healthy teeth. Acids from fruit and various foods actually serve to enhance teeth and build nutritional strength the body needs to form white cavity-resistant teeth. Dental health checks for overbites, crowding, gum diseases, and poor brushing detection of less clean areas is important while habits to maintain dental health are forming.
Maintenance for healthy and white looking teeth includes home gum massage, gums and flossing of the teeth, proper brushing with a medium to hard bristle brush, and the right kind of toothpaste. Older teeth, smoker’s teeth, tea or coffee drinkers’ teeth or those with dentures require softer toothpaste with more whitening elements in them.
Getting regular dental care and dental examinations is a solid requirement for maintaining clean white teeth, especially if one is a smoker or has poor dental health in the family. Use an electrical brush for extra whitening polish or for thorough cleaning. Extra flossing may be necessary after ingestion of meats, fruits, and nuts that require extra chewing and allow bacteria-rich food particles to hide inside teeth and mouth gums.
Special toothpastes and dental cleansers are now available commercially in specialty stores and health stores and drugstores to treat almost every kind of dental problem which can affect maxillofacial health. Some toothpastes use chemical bleaching agents and some mouthwashes contain antiseptic washes to prevent bacterial buildup that aids plaque formation in the gums.
Dental offices can schedule appointments to examine teeth and receive dental cleanings every six months to a year. Stringent cleanings should be undertaken by the oral hygienist before cavities, fillings, oral surgery or any other invasive dental procedures. Bleachings performed for cosmetic purposes and veneers and orthodonture work should have a cleaning schedule with the equipment and access to teeth in mind.
Modern bleaching methods can be administered in the dentists office by laser whitening or by application of a bleaching gel at home. More commercial applications of whitening gels and bleaching trays can be found at drugstores, but they do not have the custom molds of your teeth as a dentist’s would to ensure proper all around tooth whitening.
Tooth sensitivity is a common result after tooth whitening by such methods but it passes after a day or two. Limitation from eating highly tannin containing foods such as tea, coffee, fruit desserts or likely teeth staining products such as smoking or use of chewing tobacco is a recommended by product of teeth whitening. Cleanings, flossing, a good diet and a timely application of teeth whitening treatments can keep your smile bright and white.
