Good oral hygiene habits prevent painful toothaches, bleeding gums, and ultimately, they can mean the difference between preserving your natural teeth or costly and time-consuming dental procedures. Dr. Aulakh can help patients in Brookswood and Langley, BC, improve their dental hygiene through routine professional cleanings and education.
Everyone knows they should brush their teeth every day, but you should be brushing at least twice a day and floss every day. Less than half of Canadians keep up with a proper oral hygiene routine.
Ideally, you should brush your teeth after breakfast every day. Rinse your mouth out with water immediately after eating, then wait for 30 minutes before brushing. The same is true for any acidic drinks or food. Your teeth are more susceptible to damage when your mouth’s pH is lowered, and your toothbrush can “clean” the protective enamel off of your teeth. Throughout the day, you can improve your mouth’s pH balance by chewing sugarless gum containing xylitol. Xylitol also has the added bonus of killing bacteria that ingest it.
Night time brushing and flossing are crucial. It’s the difference between your mouth being clean for hours or giving bacteria a chance to flourish while you sleep. Since saliva production at night is much lower, the acid levels caused by bacteria can get much higher. Brushing will disrupt plaque build-up and reduce the bacteria levels and remove food debris from your teeth that would otherwise attract more bacteria.
Some people can get away with skipping a few brushes and be fine, while others may be meticulous and still wind up with issues. There are a lot of factors that can contribute to this, like diet, crooked teeth, or medications you take for specific conditions. Routine cleanings can help control the bacteria growth in your mouth and catch soft spots in your teeth that may develop into cavities or the early signs of gum disease that are easy to miss. Dr. Aulakh can also develop treatment plans to take care of tooth and jaw alignment that will make dental care more manageable and help your smile look it’s best.
Contact our office in Langley, BC, at (604) 409-8660 to set up an appointment and get your dental hygiene on track.
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