When you find the right dentist, getting dental work done and having regular checkups will be a pleasant and relaxing experience. More importantly, these visits will give you a great chance to take charge of your dental health and ensure you have healthy teeth and gums for the rest of your life. Your dentist and their assistants and hygienist can all give you good advice. So make the most of your time at the dentist by asking many questions.
This blog will help if you don’t know where to start or what to ask. We’ve made a list of the best questions our dental team often gets and a few things we wish more patients would ask.
What Is The Status Of Your Dental Health?
Your dentist should tell you the truth about any serious dental problems. But it would help if you also tried to find out what’s going on in your mouth that isn’t as urgent and what that means for your dental health.
Asking your dentist for an overview of your dental health will help you take better care of your teeth daily. Here is what you should try to get out of this summary:
Whether or not you brush and floss your teeth the right way
- The look of your gums
- If there’s anything you should keep an eye on (like weak teeth, the potential for cavities, etc.)
- Your goal should be to leave your appointment knowing exactly how your teeth are and what you need to work on in the next few months.
How Should You Floss Your Teeth?
When you floss, your gums shouldn’t bleed.Move it up and down along the sides of each tooth in a gentle way. The goal is to clean places that a toothbrush can’t reach.
How Do I Stop Getting Gum Disease?
Did you know that up to 47.2 percent of American adults, or 64.7 million people, have mild, moderate, or severe gum disease? Gum disease is a serious problem that hurts your gums and the bone that holds your teeth in place. If you don’t treat this disease, it can make you lose teeth and hurt your overall health.
Talking with your dentist about how to avoid gum disease is essential. Your dentist can not only show you examples of gums that are healthy and gums that are not, but she can also tell you how likely you are to get gum disease.
It’s important to know what you’re up against so you can be ready to catch any problems before they become bigger and more dangerous to your health.
Plaque forms on your teeth and gums because bacteria form a sticky film that clings to them. It may lead to cavities and gum disease. The bacteria in your mouth produce acids that damage your teeth when you consume sweet foods. Loss of tooth enamel may lead to cavities.
Cavities can lead to pain, trouble chewing, and tooth abscesses.And if you don’t brush or floss, the plaque on your teeth will harden into tartar. Gingivitis is an early form of gum disease caused by tartar on the gums.
In addition to brushing and flossing your teeth at least twice a day and going to the dentist regularly, try to avoid or limit the following foods.
Sour sweets
Most people don’t find it surprising that candy is bad for your mouth. But sour candy has more and different acids that hurt your teeth more.Because of their chewiness, they are also more prone to induce tooth decay because they remain on the teeth for longer. Try some chocolate instead of candy if you’re craving something sweet.It’s easy to chew and cleans up quickly.
Bread
Don’t just mindlessly go down the bread aisle at the supermarket. Your saliva turns the carbs in bread into sugar as you chew. You can’t get the bread out of your teeth after it’s turned into a sticky paste in your mouth. It’s easy to see how it may cause cavities.
If you must consume carbohydrates, go for the whole grain varieties. These are more stable and contain less sugar than alternatives.
Alcohol
It’s possible that a lot of individuals understand that alcohol is harmful.But did you know that drinking makes your mouth dry? When your mouth is dry, there isn’t enough saliva to keep your teeth healthy.
Saliva keeps food from getting stuck between your teeth and washes away bits of food. Even the first signs of tooth decay, gum disease, and other oral infections can be fixed. Drink a lot of water and use fluoride rinses and oral hydration solutions to help keep your mouth moist.
Drinks With Soda In Them
People may know that soda or pop doesn’t do much if anything, good, even if it says “diet” on the can. An older study found drinking a lot of carbonated soda could be as bad for your teeth as using methamphetamine and crack cocaine.
Carbonated drinks increase the amount of acid that plaque produces, making it more destructive to tooth enamel. Soda is acidic, so drinking it all day is the same as exposing your teeth to acid.It also makes your mouth dry, which means you have less saliva.
Last but not least, dark sodas can change the color of your teeth or stain them. Note: You shouldn’t brush your teeth right after drinking soda. This could speed up the process of decay.
Ice Cubes
Since ice is just water, it’s safe to chew. The American Dental Association says that’s not the case. Chewing on something hard can damage your enamel and make you more likely to have a dental emergency, like a chipped, cracked, or broken tooth or a crown that comes loose.
You can put ice in drinks to cool them down, but you shouldn’t chew on it. Choose chilled water or drinks without ice to fight the urge.
Citrus Fruits
Oranges, grapefruits, and lemons have a lot of vitamin C and taste good as fruits and juices. But their acid can wear away tooth enamel, making teeth more likely to get cavities. Acid can be added to a drink even by squeezing a lemon or lime into the water.
Also, the acid in citrus can make mouth sores hurt. If you want to get the antioxidants and vitamins they offer, try to eat and drink them in small amounts at meals and rinse them off with water afterward.
Potato Chips
Many of us may enjoy the crunch of a potato chip. But there is a lot of starch in the chips. Starch breaks down into sugar, which gets stuck on and between teeth and feeds the bacteria in plaque.
Since we rarely eat just one chip, the acid the chips make stays with us for a while after you eat some, floss to get rid of the food stuck in your teeth.
Dried Fruits
You might think dried fruits are a good snack because they are healthy. That may be true, but many dried fruits like apricots, prunes, figs, and raisins are sticky.
The American Dental Association says dried fruits are sticky, so they stick to the teeth and get stuck in the cracks. This leaves sugar behind. But there isn’t much information about this topic, so experts need to do more research.
If you like dried fruits, rinse your mouth with water after eating them. After that, brush and floss. And because they have less sugar, it’s better to eat the fresh ones instead.
Do Mouthwashes Have To Be Used For Good Oral Health?
You don’t need mouthwash to keep your teeth healthy. It doesn’t replace brushing and flossing, and if you brush at least twice a day for two minutes and floss once a day, it probably won’t make a big difference if you use mouthwash every day.
Mouthwash is less effective than brushing and flossing because it doesn’t touch the surface of your teeth. When you brush and floss, friction and movement help eliminate bacteria, plaque, food particles, and acid. Even though mouthwash can be good for oral health, it doesn’t get as close to your teeth as brushing, so it can’t eliminate as much plaque and bacteria.
But that doesn’t mean it’s not helpful. Using mouthwash along with brushing and flossing can kill bacteria in your mouth, strengthen your teeth, and keep you from getting gum disease. Clinical studies have shown that using mouthwash can get rid of the bacteria that cause gingivitis and improve your oral health.
What Kind Of Toothpaste Is Right For Your Teeth And Gums?
Choose a fluoride toothpaste, and then find one that works well for your teeth. Everyone has different teeth, so what works for one person might not work for another. If, for example, your teeth are sensitive, you will need a toothpaste that is made for that and will be gentle on your teeth.
If you think you have sensitive teeth, you might want to talk to your dentist first so that they can find out why your teeth are sensitive. They will also tell you what toothpaste is best for your teeth.
If you smoke, this is also true for you. Your dentist will probably tell you to stop, but if you don’t, they may suggest that you get your teeth whitened by a professional. Teeth whitening methods like “laser tooth whitening” are very good at removing tough stains like nicotine from teeth.You can visit our dental clinic for the best dentist in a nearby area.