Often, we ponder over the possible ways of getting a healthy smile to display sparkling-white healthy teeth.
The eyes are often considered to be the windows to the soul. On similar lines, the teeth can also be regarded as the doors to the soul.
So, a lot of care needs to be taken to ensure a healthy smile and ensure healthy teeth. Since historical times, man has learned the importance of taking care of teeth.
Some Sumerian tablets dating back to 5,000 B.C. provide evidence that the ancient people took a lot of care for their dental health. They even used toothbrushes prepared from tree branches.
Importance of getting healthy teeth
Obtaining healthy white teeth have other important uses aside from cosmetic worth. These values include cutting and tearing of food as well as grinding to prepare the food for swallowing.
Dental health and oral well-being also serve as a parameter of internal health. A person having diseases like diabetes may also have unhealthy teeth.
Hurdles in the way of a healthy smile
Inadequate care towards the upkeep of dental hygiene may result in several problems related to your tooth. These dilemmas can take your healthy smile away.
Some of such tooth problems are tooth decay, tooth injuries, and toothaches.
Tooth decay is a result of sugar and plaque malady. These are also causative factors for gum disease.
Plaque is the build-up of debris and bacteria on the teeth. Tooth injuries may include chipped teeth or lost teeth.
Toothaches may be due to several reasons. The main reason is the formation of tooth cavities.
Ways to overcome the hurdles and get a healthy smile
The secret behind getting a healthy smile lies in the proper care of your teeth. Study and apply the tips below to get sparkling white teeth and maintain a healthy smile.
- Brush your teeth daily
Brushing the teeth properly using small circular motions twice a day helps eliminate sugar and plaque formation. Similarly, brushing your teeth after meals is also beneficial.
Brushing twice every day for 2Â –Â 3 minutes in gradual circular movements helps maintain the health of teeth. Â
Use a medium or soft-bristled toothbrush with moderate shape and size. The kind of toothbrush you use must fit into your mouth quickly, and then again, it should reach all mouth areas easily.
- Flossing teeth properly
Teeth flossing or dental flossing implies using thin filaments, such as toothpick dental plaque, or food between the teeth.
Flossing at bedtime and after meals daily, if possible, promotes teeth and mouth hygiene. Do this correctly to avoid creating problems that may lead to tooth bleeding.
Suppose you must floss your teeth after each meal, learn how to do that in a careful manner and with the right tool. Only do this when food or teeth plaque are located in areas where toothbrushes couldn’t reach.
- Mouth wash or rinse also helps
Nonetheless, regular mouthwash as oral hygiene should not be foregone. Rinsing the mouth properly helps to flush out remains of food from the gum.
To wash or rinse the mouth, pour the right amount of liquid, commonly water, into the mouth. Move with a hissing sound to swish or gargle the water inside your mouth, then pour it away.
You may consume Sugary or gummy foods like raisins between meals. These feed bacteria in the mouth and encourage tooth decay. However, soon after the meal, good rinsing of the mouth is required.
- Chewing sugarless gum
Otherwise, eating apples or gum which does not contain any sugar aids in whitening the teeth. The plaque formed between teeth and below gums may be effectively removed by flossing before going to bed.
Kinds of toothpaste with fluoride are preferable, assimilated into the teeth, enabling them to become more assertive and resistant to decay. Also, such toothpaste kills bacteria.
- Change toothbrushes every 3 – 4 months
It’s advisable to change the toothbrushes every 3-4 months since the edges get frayed. In most cases, dentists encourage that changes of toothbrushes shouldn’t exceed three months.
Washing the toothbrush after every use is a way to care for it, but primary care is a replacement.
Dare to replace from toothbrush time to time to avoid infection from the germs that hide in the bristles. Also, know that bacteria and fungi can develop in the follicle after some time of usage.
Also, the American Dental Association (ADA) recommends that people change their toothbrushes every 3 months to ensure proper ridding of plaque.
Buildup plaque or unchecked plaque in the teeth, sooner or later, can turn to tartar and finally lead to gum damage.
- Re-implant lost tooth
Possibly, dentists can re-implant lost tooth, within an hour or so, placed in a glass of milk or saliva.
Aside from deciduous teeth (baby teeth) loss caused by a normal genetic condition, losing teeth in an adult can be undesirable.
The cause of teeth loss is teeth injury, like gum disease, teeth avulsion, or tooth decay.
Whatever the underlying cause of tooth loss in adults, go for a dental implant or re-implantation on the lost tooth or teeth (as the case may be).
- Fix or repair a chipped tooth
A chipped tooth, also called a broken cusp, can be repaired by cosmetic bonding agents. These cosmetic agents need to match the rest of the teeth.
An incident like this can cause certain conditions such as blows on the mouth, pressure from teeth grinding, chewing hard foods, etc.
If you have a chipped tooth, your smile will not appear healthy. But that’s not the case because it can be repaired by the process of dental bonding or filling.
Most individuals take chipped enamel to be expected and then neglect it for life. But know it now! A chipped tooth is at risk of an infection, which may get worst over time.
Therefore, it requires professional treatment, bonding or repair, by a seasoned dentist. For a chip on the front teeth, the dentist should apply bonding (using tooth-colored composite resin).
- Don’t ignore toothaches
Toothaches cannot just be ignored and, for this, you need to avoid cold and chewy foods that can cause toothache. A dentist should be consulted for advice when you experience a persistent toothache.
Recurrent toothaches are a cause of concern, and the reason for the problem needs to be ascertained and attended to in time.
- See a dentist twice a year
Visiting a dentist twice every year is required to look after your dental and oral health. If there are sores or growths in your mouth which are not healing up within two weeks, then a dentist’s help is to be sought.
You need to approach a dentist and carry out the necessary diagnosis if persistent pain in teeth, gums, or jaws.
- Avoid smoking
If you smoke, it’s high time you quit now because it causes teeth discoloration. Substances contained in cigarettes such as tar and nicotine create plaque on the teeth.
Moreover, it can turn the teeth color to yellow. When this happens, you lose your sparkling white teeth and won’t get a healthy smile.
Summary
Following these tips with dedication can go a long way to maintain your healthy smile. In this way, whenever you smile, the world can smile with you as well.
