Oral hygiene routine steps, maintaining oral hygiene is as important as it is to take care of overall health. Many do care for teeth and their supporting structures and look for ways to maintain their oral hygiene. However, most people are negligent and do not visit their dentist unless the dental disease or infection has spread up to a significant amount.
Common symptoms of a progressed infection include; pain and discomfort in the oral region, tooth mobility, mouth sores, and bad breath. According to the “Centre for Disease Control and Prevention” (CDC), 25.9% of adults in the United States have untreated dental caries.
From the above information, one can see that people don’t take dental issues seriously. People do not understand the importance of it unless they have to go through that unbearable pain. However, it is high time that one understands that oral health is the gateway to your body. Failure to take care of it results in various oral health problems such as tooth mobility, gums disease, dental decay, and other general health problems.
Therefore, the question is that what can adults do to maintain good oral health? Let us go through some types of oral hygiene and tips that will help an adult to maintain their oral health:
Tips For Healthy Teeth And Gums
1) Visit your dentist regularly:
The first and the foremost step is to have a visit to your dentist every six months. Although you may not have any pain or problem with your teeth, a visit to your dentist can save you from those dental troubles that may arise in the future. The dentist can spot those issues that are not visible to you and can help you with the treatment before it becomes a painful problem in the future.
2) Brushing and Flossing:
Brushing and flossing twice a day is the norm. Every individual should follow this. One should also clean and brush their teeth after one has a carbohydrate-rich meal. If ignored, a large amount of bacteria gets access to the food remnants to revive on. Their accumulation gradually leads to dental decay.
Flossing the teeth should be included in the daily routine. Brushing alone does not help in removing the food remnants stuck between the teeth. They stay there for long and results in decay between the teeth that often goes unnoticed.
*There is a shocking aspect associated with poor oral hygiene, known to few. When people with poor oral hygiene brush their teeth, they facilitate the entry of bacteria into the bloodstream. This shows how important it is to understand the importance of oral hygiene, which otherwise can result in disastrous effects on the body.
3) Use of Floss:
As described previously, dental floss is a string-like instrument used to clear the food particles stuck in between the teeth. One can floss using the spool or loop method. In the spool method, one wraps the string of the floss around the middle finger and flosses using the two fingers adjacent to the middle finger.
In the loop method, one ties the two ends of the floss that forms a loop. One can place all the fingers except the thumb within the loop and guide the floss using the index finger and thumb.The spool method is suitable for adults, while the loop method is generally suitable for children or adults with manual dexterity.
4)Use of fluoride toothpaste:
Fluoride protects the tooth structure by making it more resistant to oral bacteria. In addition, it disrupts the metabolism of the bacteria leading to its lysis.
5) Smoking cessation:
Smoking adds to the effect of aging on deteriorating oral health status.
Smoking increases the accumulation of plaque that invites bacteria to affect the teeth and gums adversely. Moreover, lack of oxygen in the bloodstream is the major adverse cause resulting from smoking. This lack of oxygen delays the healing of the infected oral tissues.
More people who smoke lose teeth early in their life because of gums disease compared to non-smokers. Smoking is a reason for staining, tooth decay, gum disease, leading up to oral cancer. Therefore, people must understand the adverse effect of smoking and quit this habit.
6)Use of ADA certified products:
If a dental product is certified by ADA, then this means that there are high chances of it being long-lasting and of good quality. Such products provide the expected results required for the maintenance of good oral hygiene.
7) Avoiding mid-night munching:
Midnight munching of snacks and sleeping without brushing the teeth is one of the biggest reasons for tooth decay. Overnight accumulation of food in the teeth gives more time to the bacteria to produce acids and aggravate the decay process. Saliva production is also low while in sleep, which adversely affects its acid-neutralizing effect.
8) Replacing toothbrush in time:
The bristles of a toothbrush wear away with time and usage. Moreover, one cannot see, but, over time, there is too much accumulation of bacteria on its bristles. One may ingest these harmful bacterias while brushing and get affected with different stomach and oral health problems. Therefore it is advised to replace the toothbrush after every three months.
9) Controlling diabetes:
Diabetes may lead to many health complications, but the most important is dryness of the mouth (xerostomia) and delayed healing. This can lead to angular cheilitis, enlarged salivary glands, frequent mouth ulcers, tooth decay, gums diseases, etc. Therefore, one should exercise care in maintaining the sugar levels in the body. Also, one should regularly take vitamins and minerals to counteract the effects of diabetes on health. Drinking more water and having citrus fruits also helps with xerostomia.
A person should understand that with aging, like any other body part, their oral health is obvious to change and suffer. Many medications used to treat different systemic problems also have adverse effects on oral health. Therefore, one should embrace this change with the growing age and accept the dentures and other dental treatments that may not give them the natural feeling but, at least, help them with their regular oral health functions.
One should try to follow the above-shared tips and stay assured that they are doing their best to maintain their oral health. Changes with age are natural, but proper care delays these changes up to a great extent. Therefore, if you are an adult, remember, taking care of oral health is beneficial for overall body health. It is because if the gateway to the human body is healthy, the body itself stays healthy.