The Dynamics Of Dental Health
Imagine laughing with no teeth on display. That’d look very much like watching a big toothless baby laugh. It might be a good laugh, but not a pretty one.
Several decades back, tooth loss was a prominent phenomenon among adults as most people knew nothing about dental health.
Losing one’s teeth can be devastating. With tooth loss, eating can be an excruciating activity.
Whether you’re laughing, smiling, or talking, you need your teeth to do any of those things right. How you treat your teeth would affect your quality of life, so why not treat them right?
Thanks to modern dentistry, there are tons of information on how you can keep your teeth clean and safe. While the best information on personal dental care should come from your dentist, there are basic things you ought to know about dental health.
Bacteria
No less than 700 species of bacteria live in the human mouth. Some are harmful; others aren’t. The bacteria responsible for cavities are called mutans streptococci.
An average person has up to seven billion bacteria residing in their mouth. Don’t race for your toothbrush just yet.
Remember, not all of these bacteria are harmful. With the help of your saliva, the good ones are constantly fighting the bad ones.
Harmful bacteria feed on food debris. Their favorite meal is sugar, as it helps them produce the acid they use in forming plaques on the teeth’ surface.
The beginning of most dental diseases is rooted in plaques. Plaques break down your enamel, form cavities, cause tooth decay, bad breath, and infect your gums.
How can you prevent the development of plaques and tooth disorders?
Your hygiene
Good oral hygiene is beneficial to your mouth and overall health. You can restrict the formation of plaques by 90% if you clean your mouth regularly. However, that percentage only applies when you do it right.
People who spend less than two minutes cleaning their teeth are bound to have plaques. It takes more than two minutes to wash the mouth thoroughly. However, more minutes doesn’t necessarily guarantee clean teeth if you’re using the wrong cleaning agents.
Fluoride is essential to your oral health as It helps prevent tooth decay. Ensure to use a high fluoride density toothpaste always.
Your toothbrush can make or break your teeth. Hard bristled toothbrushes sometimes do more damage than good. If you scrub too hard against your teeth, you might tear your gums and erode your enamel.
Eroded enamels and torn gums increase your chances of getting an infection.
Speak with your dentist to know what toothbrush is best for you. Soft bristles are perfect if you know how to use them right.
Consider flossing after every meal or at least once a day. According to research, flossing covers about thirty-five percent of the teeth’ surface, and it’s easy to use at angles your brush can’t clean properly.
Also, mouthwash comes in handy for eradicating food debris and harmful bacteria.
Sugar-free diet
Sugar is the enemy. Of course, you need sugar to survive, but you probably don’t need as much as you consume. Obesity, diabetes, and certain sexual dysfunctions are strongly connected to high sugar consumption.
Sugar is quite bad for your teeth too. As noted earlier, harmful bacteria responsible for cavities, tooth decay, and gum diseases feed on sugar to create plaques which is the initial stage of most dental disorders.
A low sugar diet will help prevent the bacteria from feeding. If possible, avoid starchy sugar and carbonated soda drinks; they tend to contact bacteria directly.
When you eat sugar-based meals, please don’t eat them on a long stretch. Keep in mind that sugar isn’t just candy. It’s glucose, maltose, dextrose, sucrose. So if you’re intentional about low sugar consumption, always watch out for the sugar synonyms used by food manufacturers.
Plant-based foods are great for the healthy bacteria in your mouth. Healthy bacteria make the fight against harmful bacteria relatively easy.
Healthy Lifestyle
Good habits are called good because they are beneficial to your health. Smoking isn’t.
Smoking has been linked to cancer and other lifestyle diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular diseases, and diabetes. Non-smokers are less likely to develop oral cancer.
Generally, Smoking causes teeth discoloration, bad breath and weakens the immune system. A weakened immune system is quite bad in the advent of gum infections since the body depends on it to fight toxins and aid the healing process.
High Alcohol consumption is just as bad too. It retards the immune system, promotes bad breath and plaque development.
A healthy lifestyle means better oral health.
Professional dental care
You might have heard about or maybe experienced the traumatic times of old dentistry. Perhaps, it’s the very reason you avoid visiting your dentist.
Almost half the world’s population is living with tooth disorders, and it’s estimated that nine out of every ten persons experience dental problems in their lifetime. That’s a disturbing figure.
The point is, everyone is susceptible to dental problems, and the best way to prevent severe damage is by regularly visiting your dentist. Dentist in Montclair.
Good oral hygiene promotes dental health. However, there are things you need your dentist to handle. If you have bad breath despite constant cleaning, you’d need a dentist for an oral examination. You might have tonsil stones at the back of your throat or other issues that only a dentist can detect.
Tartars, for example, are quite elusive. They are hardened plaques that stick very hard to the teeth’ surface, can’t be removed with a toothbrush, and are often confused as enamels.
They’re usually found at the back of the teeth, and you’d need a dentist or hygienist to remove them.
What about the pain that comes with a dental procedure?
The good news is, unlike ancient times, anesthesia can help you deal with the pain.
Almost 3.5 billion people live with dental disorders, and most of them have excellent oral hygiene routines. Still, a significant number of that population have never been to a dental clinic.
Dental professionals have had to remove good teeth due to gum infections that could have been easily treated if the patients had visited sooner.
Visit your dentist at least twice a year to maintain your oral health.
