Basic Oral Hygiene

We’ve all heard the old adage: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”  This adage couldn’t be truer when it comes to dental hygiene at home.  Proper daily oral hygiene lays the groundwork for a healthy smile.

To help you perfect the art of proper oral hygiene at home, here are a few tips:

• Brush at least twice a day – Brushing your teeth removes food debris, plaque and bacteria off of your teeth.   
• Never go to bed without freshly brushed teeth – Leaving food debris on the teeth accelerates dental decay and gum disease
• Place your brush at a 45 degree angle when brushing – Brushing with the bristles of the brush at a 45 degree angle to the tooth surface is more effective than brushing at a 90 degree angle (perpendicular) to the tooth.
• Floss once a day – Did you know that flossing is the ONLY way you can clean between your teeth effectively at home?  That’s why flossing is so highly recommended by dentists.
• Brush with a Phillips Sonicare electric toothbrush – Think of a Sonicare toothbrush  like a power tool for cleaning your teeth: sure, you could get by without one, just like you could get by without a car, but why would you want to do it the hard way?
• Use a gentle touch – Brushing too vigorously can damage the gums and even cause them to recede
• Concentrate on brushing all sides of your teeth – Don’t forget the back sides of your back teeth!
• Brush your tongue – Brushing the tongue is strange at first but it’s important to dislodge the bacteria that could be living there.
• Rinse with Listerine at last once per day for 1 minute – Rinsing with an antimicrobial agent like Listerine can kill 99% of gum disease-causing bacteria in your mouth.  If such a terrific antimicrobial rinse exists, why not use it?!

And remember: You don't have to brush and floss ALL of your teeth; just brush and floss the teeth you want to keep! :-)