You want the best smile you can get. Whether it’s a business meeting with your employer, an interview with a recruiting service, or a date with that special someone you have your eyes on, your smile is a message to the world that says, “This is me”. You don’t want that message to be a bad one, do you? On the contrary, you want to give the best signal you can, and the easiest way to do that is by taking care of your teeth consistently and regularly. Want to learn how? It’s easy. Polish your smile into a brilliant sheen with these basic teeth maintenance methods.
Brush Your Teeth Before Breakfast
Everyone knows that brushing your teeth is important. The timing, though, is where things get tricky. It’s actually better to brush your teeth before eating the first meal of the day. Why? Overnight, gunk can accumulate in your mouth as bacteria feed and grow. After you eat, you’re giving those bacteria a chance to do even more damage to the precious enamel of your teeth. That can mean cavities! Don’t let that happen. Instead, brush before eating and wash those bacteria away before they even have a chance. That’s the easiest thing you can do for a good smile.
While brushing your teeth is easy, it’s one of the most vital things you can do to preserve your smile and keep your mouth happy and healthy.
Brush Your Teeth Before Bed
Those bacteria that love to live inside your mouth need to be kept in check regularly with a good dollop of toothpaste and a vigorous brushing technique. Brush right before you go to bed to keep the population of bacteria down and minimize their exponential growth inside of your mouth. If you don’t, you’re putting yourself at risk of cavities or worse. While dental fillings can help, it’s far better not to be in that situation at all. A proactive strategy is the best strategy when it comes to teeth!
It’s important to note that sometimes you can have too much of a good thing. It really isn’t a good idea to brush too much. Brush twice, or more if your dentist recommends it, and keep your mouth safe and healthy.
Floss Your Teeth
Can you believe some people hate flossing? It’s so simple and easy, but it gets a bad rap. Tons of people don’t even bother flossing because they think brushing your teeth does the job for you. Spoiler alert: it doesn’t. In fact, when it comes to preventing gingivitis, which is just a fancy term for gum disease and inflammation, the single best thing you can do is break out the roll of floss and get to work.
You want to floss regularly, at least once a day. Ideally, you’d floss even more than that. The best method, as long as you’re being careful and implementing proper flossing technique, is flossing after every single meal. The more you do that, the less food you’ll be feeding those nasty bacteria. That means less plaque, fewer cavities, and fewer visits to the dentist for treatment.
Visit Your Dentist
You want to visit your dentist or orthodontist at least twice a year. Some people have conditions that make it necessary to visit even more than that, so make sure you check with your dentist first. That’s easy enough to do; just ring them up and ask. Most people know that visiting a dentist is important, but they put it off because they find the process a hassle. It doesn’t need to be. Tooth cleaning is fairly fast, completely safe, and absolutely necessary for making sure that your smile shines brightly. It’s part of the broader maintenance arsenal you have available to fight off tooth decay and gum disease. Remember: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
There’s good news, though. More and more people are visiting their dentist these days. It doesn’t need to be scary anymore, and increasingly dentists are going out of their way to make the experience as pain-free and pleasant as mouth work can be.
Bear in mind that these days you might need a virtual consultation because of COVID-19, but you should still be able to get in to be seen either virtually or in person.
Oops… You Forgot
If you forgot to brush your teeth, that’s not a big deal. Just go ahead and brush as soon as you remember. If that keeps happening consistently, though, it might be time to schedule a checkup with your dentist. If they find cavities or gum disease after their examination, they’ll likely want to schedule you for a procedure of some kind. The exact sorts of procedures depend on the results of your exam, but laser dentistry is quite popular, and many dentists are employing the technique in their work these days.
With laser dentistry and similar operations inside the mouth, you’ll need to undergo post-operative surgical maintenance.
Post-Op Surgical Maintenance
If you’ve had surgery, don’t be surprised if you have some bleeding afterward. It’s important not to smoke and to take it easy for at least a few days, but possibly more depending on what your dental surgeon tells you. Don’t rinse your mouth roughly and be extremely gentle if your doctor has allowed you to brush your teeth. If they’ve instructed you to avoid mouth cleaning altogether, then it’s important you follow that advice, too, and that includes avoiding all of the techniques listed in this article so far. It’s okay. The bacteria won’t be too troublesome in the days after the procedure, so it really isn’t the end of the world.
Wrapping It Up With A Smile
As you can see, simple teeth maintenance can go a long way towards making your smile the absolute best it can be. Don’t let laziness get between you and your smile. Give the world a bright and resounding grin. Let your employers know that you’re the one that they want. Let your customers know that they can trust you. Let your friends know that you put the effort in. Maintain your teeth, visit the dentist at least twice a year, and keep those cavities at bay!
