Ever since you were a little kid, you’ve been taking care of your teeth every day. You feel pretty confident that you’re doing everything right. However, you could have tiny bad habits that are making your oral hygiene routine less effective than it could be otherwise. In fact, they could create trouble for your smile!
Here are some tendencies in your teeth cleaning that you may be doing wrong and the way to correct these mistakes.
Brushing Just Once Per Day
When you brush only one time every day, even if it’s at night, you allow plaque (which is a white, sticky film containing bacteria) to form. After just a few hours, it hardens onto teeth, and the bacteria can create a cavity or infect the gum tissue. By brushing at least twice every day, you limit the opportunity plaque has to attach to your teeth and harm your smile.
Not Replacing Your Toothbrush Regularly
Although it may seem more cost- or eco-friendly to continue using the same toothbrush, it loses its effectiveness after three or four months of use. As a result, your mouth doesn’t get cleaned as thoroughly, potentially leading to issues like gum disease or tooth decay that could have been prevented with a toothbrush in better condition. Be sure that you switch out your toothbrush on schedule to ensure cleaner, fresher results.
Rushing Brushing
Although it can seem tedious to brush your teeth for a full two minutes, there’s a reason why the American Dental Association strongly encourages this time frame. It gives you plenty of time to be thorough and reach all areas of your teeth and gums that need to be brushed.
Brushing Too Hard
Along with going too fast with brushing is putting too much pressure behind the toothbrush. Your gum tissue is sensitive and can recede if you push too hard when you brush. Use a gentle, circular motion especially when you’re close the gumline. That way, you can still clean your teeth and gums without causing damage.
Skipping Flossing
Your teeth are separated by tiny gaps, and plaque can easily hide in this spaces and lead to inflammation. Brushing often can’t reach, meaning that you need to floss every day to clear out these vulnerable areas.
Seeing a Dentist Only for Emergencies
Your dentist is certainly a resource for dental emergencies, but you could avoid experiencing these stressful and painful situations if you visited your dentist on a regular basis. Getting a checkup and professional cleaning at least every six months catches any problem early and even stops issues from developing in the future.
Don’t feel bad if you’re guilty of these mistakes. With oral health, you can always make changes for the better! You can alter your daily oral hygiene routine and improve. When you correct these mistakes, you can have a cleaner, stronger smile.
About the Practice
Our team at Beach Dental has undergone decades of advanced training and clinical experience and can perform many complex procedures, such as dental implants, in-house. However, Dr. Jason Parli and Dr. Alexis Gersten prefer to prevent oral issues from occurring altogether through simple care. If you are due for a dental checkup and cleaning, you can contact Beach Dental by calling 631-325-0731 or visiting our Contact Us page here.