Brushing and flossing your teeth regularly is different for everyone. Some people consider it a ritual to brush and floss their teeth every morning and night. On the other hand, there are some people who don’t give it much importance and only floss occasionally or not at all. These behaviors vary among different people. Maintaining daily dental removes the accumulation of dental plaque on your teeth. This dental plaque is the accumulation of naturally occurring bacteria on each tooth’s surface and the nooks and crannies. If you don’t follow proper dental hygiene this plaque piles up on your teeth expanding the bacterial population in the mouth. This can ultimately lead to severe consequences for your overall health.
What is Dental Hygiene?
Dental hygiene is a term used for proper care of teeth by brushing and flossing daily. Not only this, but it also includes your visit to a local dental office for professional teeth cleaning. Moreover, a dental exam once every six months is also very important in maintaining good dental hygiene. Here are the tips which you can follow to make sure that you are doing great for daily dental hygiene
- Avoid taking many sugary snacks
- Eat healthy food including vegetables and fruits
- Cut down the consumption of tobacco products
- Rinse your mouth after every meal
- Brush your teeth twice a day (in the morning and before going to bed)
- During athletics, use a mouth guard to protect your teeth
- Go for a dental exam at least once every six months
Why Daily Dental Hygiene is Important?
As said earlier, the main purpose of maintaining good dental hygiene is to stop plaque buildup on your teeth. This prevents your teeth from decay or gum infection. Here are some of the salient reasons for keeping up with dental hygiene.
1. Good for Your Overall Health
We all know that whatever our body experiences enter our mouth. It serves as a door to many processes in the internal parts of our body. Moreover, it also plays a vital role in the detection of systemic disease. For instance, diabetes becomes notable due to a mouth lesion or gum infection. Research from Harvard University pointed out that people suffering from dental problems are more prone to heart-related issues. This study stated that in periodontal diseases, inflammation in the body increases which puts a greater burden on many parts of the human body.
Apart from cardiovascular and diabetes, there are many other health complications (infective endocarditis, bacterial pneumonia, cancer, sepsis, and low birth weight) that you may face following bad dental hygiene. Moreover, in women pregnancy complications also arise due to bad oral health. The sooner the better so, it’s wise to schedule regular checkups to maintain good dental health.
Scheduling a regular dental checkup at least once every six months can help in the early detection of oral conditions. Moreover, you can also get to know other complications which may arise due to oral diseases so you can start treatment immediately.
2. Prevents Tooth Decay
Tooth loss has become very common in children and adults. The most obvious reason for this is the buildup of plaque on the surface of teeth. This bacterial buildup makes your teeth susceptible to gum infection or tooth decay.
However, if you are routinely brushing and flossing, then this shouldn’t be a problem for you. But you need to keep in mind that along with this daily dental hygiene you should also look for professional cleaning at least twice a year. This professional cleaning targets even the minor parts of your teeth that you may overlook while brushing or flossing. Moreover, it also removes plaques and tartar from hard-to-reach teeth.
3. Minimize the Digestion Problems
The entry part of your digestive parts starts with your mouth. The physical and chemical processes of digestion start in the mouth and anything wrong can lead to intestinal failure. Not to mention, it can lead to irritable bowel syndrome and other severe digestive system problems.
4. Facial Pain
Dental hygiene is very important to prevent plaque buildup on teeth and gum diseases. However, when you stop caring this can lead to serious implications causing facial pain. This pain is a clue that your tooth is susceptible to gingivitis, an early stage of gum disease. This process starts with pain or any visually unappealing symptoms. In severe cases, this can lead to tooth loss and bone degeneration. Moreover, this infection can spread to other parts of your mouth.
Stating all the importance of daily dental hygiene, one can easily assume the necessity of this hygienic practice in their daily routine. This reduces the likelihood of developing several oral health complications. Apart from this, you can also consider it good practice for preserving natural teeth, bone mass, and facial structure. Last but not the least, having clean teeth lets you smile whiter and brighter with confidence.
