Your teeth are one of the essential parts of your body. While you don’t need pristine, pearly whites like those you see in Hollywood movies, it’s still important to ensure that you and your family maintain excellent dental hygiene habits. Neglecting this can lead to rotting teeth, gum disease, and bad breath, which is not at all what you want. Here are some tips to help you promote great dental health for your family.
Cut Down On Sugar
One of the leading causes of tooth decay is having too much sugar in your diet, and if your family struggles with a lot of dental health issues, this could be the main reason.
Cutting out sugar can be hard, as the rush from it is addictive, especially for kids. But if you want to maintain fantastic oral health, cutting down or eliminating sugar altogether will bring an array of benefits. There will be less discoloration of the teeth, and you’ll have better breath. Plus, not only will it improve your dental health but also overall health, too.
Take Time and Don’t Rush
When brushing your teeth, people think it’s more effective to go hard and fast, however, while a little pressure is good, applying too much can scrape the protective enamel from your teeth, making them more susceptible to decay.
Instead, it’s recommended to brush gently for between two to three minutes. You can time this by finding a toothbrush with a timer or listening to a song. It’s also important to target all of your teeth, not just those at the front as often, there is food trapped in the molars at the back of the mouth, so getting rid of any leftover food will do wonders for your dental health.
Soft Bristles
For kids, soft bristles are ideal for making them enjoy brushing their teeth and not dreading it. The package will tell you whether the bristles are soft or not, and these are more gentle on sensitive gums and prevent bleeding.
You should change the toothbrush every three months, although it might be sooner depending on how hard your family brushes. You can find brushes with bristles that change color when the time comes to replace them.
Get Advice When You Need It
Regardless of how well you and your family look after their teeth, there’s still the chance for issues to arise, such as severe toothache or infection, perhaps from a growing-out wisdom tooth. When this happens, it’s crucial to seek advice instead of waiting and hoping for the pain to go away.
For more serious issues, finding a good dentist is crucial to maintaining excellent dental health. They can provide the correct treatment and explain what should and shouldn’t be done to prevent a repeat of these issues in the future. This advice can be invaluable for you, your partner, and your kids, so take it on board.
Happy Smiles
While there may be some resistance from your family, it’s not too difficult to maintain excellent dental health to ensure everyone grows up with beautiful, shining smiles that become the centerpiece of every photograph from now on.
