Every dental patient wants to maintain strong and healthy teeth for years to come. Our O’Fallon dentists are here to provide you with the information and the treatments that you need in order to achieve these results. Today we are giving you some suggestions about things that you can do day to day in order to help safeguard your smile.
First of all, one of the best things that you can do for your smile is to follow all of your dentist’s recommendations regarding brushing, flossing, and completing professional dental appointments. Provided you are already doing this, here are some additional things that you can do to prioritize your oral health day to day.
1. Consider your diet
As you probably already know, there are certain foods and drinks that can harm your smile. For the most part these substances are acidic, or they have high sugar contents. You want to minimize the amount of these foods and drinks in your daily diet.
You can also incorporate oral-health-boosting foods into your daily routine; for example, vegetables like carrots and celery help to scrape plaque from the surfaces of your smile.
2. Help your body do its job
Saliva is your body’s natural, built-in way of neutralizing harmful bacteria and fighting cavities. You want to drink plenty of water through the day, so that your body is able to produce enough saliva to benefit your smile. Avoid the dreaded dry mouth!
3. Get into good post-meal habits
After you eat a meal, you can rinse your mouth with water to dislodge food particles and minimize the amount of time that bacteria fee in your mouth. If you have stubborn dental debris, please get into the habit of using floss, rather than potentially-damaging toothpicks, to tease out these food particles.
When you take proactive steps to care for your smile day to day, you give your smile its best chance of staying healthy and strong for years to come. Ready to learn more? Our O’Fallon dentists are here to answer any questions that you may have about professional and at-home dental care!