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Look into a mirror and appraise your mouth, scrutinize the stains or receding gums, inspect and analyze your mouth and ask a question to yourself, do you entail to maintain your oral hygiene?

The loss of teeth gives an impression of old age.

You must retain your teeth to preserve your youth.

The reason for wrinkles in old age is loss of skin tonicity. The collapse of the jaw bone’s vertical height which follows after tooth loss also aggravates the aged looks.

Everyone desire to be physically attractive and teeth contribute as a major factor in preserving and retaining attractiveness.

Sometimes similar to a medical disease, the oral disease may be present without any symptoms and/or your awareness.

Bleeding gum produces bad breath. This is also a sign of the compromised health of gums. There will be serious consequences if you attempt to overlook it can eventually result in tooth loss due to mobility.

You and only you can halt or control some existing problems. And trust me most of the gum problems can be prevented by maintaining good oral hygiene. 

Good oral health is achieved by both the dentist and an individual.

For instance, smoking a pack of cigarettes immediately after an oral surgery procedure can result in a localized infection.

Don’t blame others for your performance in maintaining good oral health. You must understand you hold your fate in your hands and are responsible for your actions.

So understanding and following oral hygiene instructions are of utmost importance to the care and treatment to get positive results.

We want to proffer you with a good knowledge of dental issues and teeth so that you can exercise good care of your teeth and prevent any teeth or gum problems. 

These days people are more concerned about their hygiene and cleanliness.

Our goal is to attain awareness of good oral health.you don’t require to work like a plodder, rather implement few practices a part of your daily routine.

You must understand that caries and gum problems progresses slowly and can be prevented by exercising oral hygiene instructions.

You can attain a good smile and oral health through regular brushing, flossing, and other oral hygiene instructions.

Facts that will surprise you  

• Hard/vigorous brushing leads to gum diseases and tooth sensitivity.

• A layer of bacteria called plaque is formed within 2-3 hours after brushing

• Flossing can extend the lifespan of teeth up to 6 years

• 50% of the smokers are found with gum diseases

• Gum disease caused by bacteria can spread through close contacts

• Infection in the mouth intensifies the risk of respiratory infection

• 90% of systemic disease are associated with oral health

Dental plaque 

Dental plaque is a thin layer of microbes that stick to the teeth leading to tooth decay.

How to evaluate the health of your gums?

Estimate the well-being of your gums by holding unwaxed floss and running it between your teeth lightly just like you are flossing.

 Be sure to go all the way below the level of the gum but don’t force it. 

This includes moving it along the surface of both adjacent teeth. If you pull it back out and there is blood on the floss that is an area that is inflamed. 

Smoking can create false negatives with no bleeding.Bind the floss to a new region for evaluation of the area.

Record the percentage of bleeding areas. 

15% or less is good anything above that needs significant improvement. Obviously shoot for no bleeding. You will do this once a week to track improvement.

You do not necessarily require a college degree to explore the amount of plaque, a disclosing agent can do the job.

How to apply a disclosing agent?

Rinse your mouth with water

Dry the teeth with a cotton pellet

Take disclosing agent in a swab or a small cotton pellet and apply to only the crown portion of the teeth(visible part).

The other method is to put a few drops in a paper cup filled with water and rinse.

In case you are using a tablet, chew the tablet or wafer and swish it around for a minute and throw it.

Rinse the mouth with water.

Two-tone reagent-

Red color – newly formed, a thin layer of plaque discolored on the tooth surface.

The blue color – thick layer of calculus (hard deposit), close to gums and in between teeth where brush and floss are inaccessible.  

Why you should not be using disclosing agents by yourself?

Disclosing agents when applied to tooth-colored restoration, stains the teeth that doesn’t go away.

If the solution kept longer than 2-3 months, alcohol gets evaporated and the solution gets too concentrated.

Oral hygiene instructions

1. Brushing 

2. Flossing 

3. Interdental cleaning 

4. Proper diet

5. Regular dental checkups 

Brushing

Take some time off, put on some music and enjoy brushing gently for 2-4 mins twice everyday once in the morning and once before bed.

Always use a soft/medium bristle toothbrush which diminishes the chances of receding gums and teeth sensitivity.

Use toothpaste with 1,450 ppm of fluoride to reduce tooth decay.

Brushing at night

Your saliva levels are lowest at night so your teeth are less protected against acids. Saliva acts as a buffer. Eliminate as many bacteria as you can before this exposed time by cleaning immediately before bed. Also, do not rinse with water afterwards thereby allowing the fluoride in the toothpaste to coat your teeth overnight.

You can substitute in a low fluoride mouthwash (rinsing for a minimum of 1 minute) before bed if you don’t like the way toothpaste feels in your mouth.

Brushing in morning

In the morning it is best to remove bacteria before “feeding” them. As a universal rule, it is most beneficial to brush before meals since your oral pH is grounded for up to an hour following meals (depending on salivary levels). With the pH low, your enamel is softer and you can brush it away.

If you can’t stand the taste of toothpaste when you eat just wet your toothbrush and use it without toothpaste. You really only need the toothpaste for the fluoride anyway.

How to brush your teeth?

Rinse the mouth and put toothpaste (anticavity fluoride) on the brush and put the brush underwater.

People have a misbelief that brushing hard or vigorous removes all the dirt from the teeth. in fact, Hard brushing often results in teeth and gum damage. Exerting too much pressure results in the abrasion of the tooth surface.  Thus gentle pressure is always recommended above the gum line and teeth.

You will be amazed to know that there are several types of brushing techniques.

Simplest and most frequently used

When A brush is kept horizontal at the gum line and scrubbed in to and fro motion.

Recommended by the dentist

Bass technique

Take the brush to the most backside parallel to the chewing part of your teeth with the brush covering 3-4 teeth.

Place the brush on the gum line in the most backside 45 degrees to the long axis of teeth.

Put gentle vibratory pressure (without dislodging the tip of the bristle) in short back and forth motion from the gum end till the area in between the teeth like a pendulum clock.

Exert gentle pressure that you don’t blanch your gums.

Lift the brush and move to adjacent teeth and repeat the process for the next 3-4 teeth.

The concept of placing brush to 45 degrees allows the removal of food particles stuck in the gums.

Bush outside and inside of back teeth using short back and forth motion.

We don’t get to view the interior of the lower front teeth. This is the region of most of the deposits. 

Tilt the brush vertically and use the up and down motion.

Keep the brush flat and sweep the chewing surfaces.

Brushing after gingival surgery

A brush is placed at the tooth, not at the gums.

Sides of the bristles are flexed against gums in to and fro motion to massage gums.

Oral hygiene instructions for children

We recommend only a pea size of toothpaste to Children less than 12 years of age, as they usually swallow toothpaste. Using more quantity of anti-cavity fluoride toothpaste can increase fluoride content in the body.

Placing the toothbrush on the teeth and showing them to brush on the top of the teeth, backside, the front side in a circular motion.

Fluoride mouthwash help to boost the newly erupting teeth.

For children over 6 months having newly erupted milk teeth, special care should be taken.

Nursing bottle caries and Rampant caries are the common occurrences of tooth decay. This is due to milk powder products that stick on the surface of the teeth. The parents should be trained to use either finger mounted brush or a clean piece of cloth to prefer silk cloth to wipe the residue. Specifically, clean the tongue and palate side of the lower and upper teeth. These are the areas where food residue is not visible and cause damage to teeth. As a precaution always make the child drink water after feeding. It washes away the residual milk. 

Brushing with braces on

A substantial amount of population undergoing orthodontic treatment to correct the alignment of the teeth. These children should be trained brushing techniques specially designed for teeth undergoing braces treatment. Special dental aids such as orthodontic dental brushes, dental floss, Waterpik (water jet – interdental cleaning aid) are used to maintain a good oral hygiene for individuals with braces. 

How to maintain a toothbrush?

A toothbrush should be rinsed clean after every use and held in an upright position to air-dry.

You should replace a toothbrush every 3-4 months or even before when the bristles splay resiliency.

Toothbrushes should be replaced after a major illness or flu.

Nowadays brushes are coming with color indicator bristles as well.

Interdental cleaning aids

Any toothbrush regardless of the brushing technique you execute, can’t remove 100% of the plaque.

Tissue destruction in most of the gum diseases progresses from the area in between the teeth.

Interdental area (spaces in between the teeth) are difficult to clean with a toothbrush.

Interdental cleaning aid is a boon for a patient with severe gum disease.

It includes dental floss and interdental cleaners.

Dental floss

Dental floss is a soft thread applied to clean the area in between the teeth. It helps to remove plaque and hard substance stuck in between the teeth.

If you are fed up with the fraying of dental floss, wootooth advice you to use non-stick monofilament floss.

How to floss your teeth?

Take out an arm’s length of the floss approximately 18 inches and wrap it around your fingers.

Gently catch the curve of your teeth and avoid snapping the floss on the gums.

Gum massage

Massaging gums with a toothbrush or interdental cleaning device helps in increasing the blood circulation of the gums.

Mouth Rinse

In order to maintain the good health of your gums rinse daily 2-3 times with warm saline water. Take lukewarm water dissolve a pinch of salt in it and rinse your mouth with it. This allows good blood supply to gums and the alkaline ph of water keeps the infection in control.

Regular exercise of warm water mouth wash and gum massage keeps gums healthy and prevents or delays the onset of gum disease.

Swishing water in our mouth removes food particles from places where neither toothbrush or dental floss could reach. This effectively prevents Dental caries.

Tongue cleaner

Many of us only brush our teeth in hurry but tongue cleaning is as important as teeth cleaning as tongue harbors most of the bacteria and causes bad breath.

So tongue cleaning is advised as a part of daily routine.

Oral hygiene instructions for physically challenged

The use of electric or powered toothbrushes efficiently helps in plaque removal.

Antiplaque mouthwashes

We advise you not to buy mouthwash containing alcohol causes dryness of the mouth.

Don’t rinse the mouth after using the mouthwash.

Chlorhexidine mouthwash

Colgate periogard rinse

Acclean chlorhexidine gluconate 0.12%

Rexidine mouthwash

Oral hygiene instructions during pregnancy

Choose fruits over fruit juices as juices have a high acidic level.

Drink plenty of water.

Switch to low-fat milk.

Brush twice daily.

Avoid taking sweet in between the meals.

Any dental treatment is advised between 14-20 weeks of pregnancy.

Scaling done by Dental surgeon or Dental hygienist is very important as poor oral hygiene play is a big reason for the miscarriage of pregnancy.

Oral hygiene instructions after implant surgery

Eat/drink cold items for the first 24 hours of surgery.

Lukewarm salt water rinse after 24 hours 4-5 times a day

Use an elevated pillow or extra headrest for the first 2 days

Maintain a soft diet for first 5-6 days after surgery

If you are planning to go through or have been any implant surgery,  get to know more about taking care of the implant.

Diet

Avoid food with high sugar content. Sticky sugary food leads to tooth decay.

Carbonated drinks are acidic and result in the sensitivity of teeth.

Sticky food tends to sit in the chewing surface of teeth and causes decay.

Follow up –

Prevention is better than cure!

Visiting a dentist regularly will detect and diagnose the problem before coming to you.

Cons of using oral hygiene instructions

No intervention comes with its adverse effects, even practicing oral hygiene instructions may have adverse effects.

Find out how

Tooth abrasion and gingival recession both caused by hard or traumatic brushing. A Frayed brush is a sign of vigorous brushing.

Horizontal scrubbing stroke brushing harms the tooth surface and is a more important risk factor for tooth abrasion.

Also, the use of abrasive toothpaste is the primary cause of tooth abrasion. Avoid using powder form.

There is less risk of damage to thin gum tissue using a high jet irrigation device.

Brushing or flossing in the surgical is within 7 days after any regenerative surgical procedure like any pocket reduction surgery or soft tissue grafting may worsen the situation. Never brush over a periodontal pack.

Brush before breakfast in the day and before sleep at bedtime

You need to remove plaque every 48 hours. You could do this by brushing once a day if you were a brushing savant, but I haven’t seen one yet. Brushing twice a day increases your odds and eliminates the tendency to be obsessive and over-brush.

I usually use a toothbrush to brush my tongue, but you can also use a tongue scraper before brushing if you need it. Amazing expensive hand-operated toothbrushes with the fancy cross bristles are remarkably efficient at cleaning the tongue. If you have an electronic toothbrush, you will need an extra tongue scraper or regular toothbrush to clean the tongue.

To summarise it up,

• Brush your teeth twice a day for two minutes every time, giving about 30 seconds in each corner of your mouth.

• Keep your toothbrush at a slight slant around a 45-degree angle, pointing the bristles approaching the area where your tooth assembles your gum.

• Be certain to clean all surfaces of your teeth.

• Recognize when to renew your toothbrush, and put other oral hygiene regimens clean.

• Floss at least once a day with about 18 inches of dental floss, winding each end encompassing your fingers and gently dropping it in between your teeth.

• To avoid hurting your gums, be sensitive and match the curve of your teeth.

• Utilize fresh floss — as you proceed to the next tooth catch the dirty floss with one finger and separate the clean floss from the other.

• Flush your mouth with a mouthwash carrying fluoride following you brush and floss your teeth.

• Swish little amount of wash throughout your mouth for around 30 to 40 seconds before spluttering it out.

• Clean the tongue enormously without gagging and wash your mouth.

• If you’re using a toothbrush to clean your tongue, use a pea size toothpaste and brush in circular actions. You can also use floss or a tongue scraper to rub it clean.

 Oral care helps the teeth clean free of decay and gum problems and the mouth odor-free.

 extooth advise you to visit your dentist if you have bad breath, sensitive teeth, bleeding gums and loosening of teeth.

Good oral health helps to get the perfect body.

Do you have any of the dental problems??

Leave a comment to tell me do you use Dental floss?