The world is currently under the shadows of the novel virus COVID-19, but this does not mean you should neglect your dental health. This year’s National Smile Month might not be like others but Family Dental Care would still like to let you know how to care for your smile despite the pandemic. National Smile Month greatly focuses on 3 key messages: brush twice daily with a fluoride toothpaste, cut down intake of sugary foods and drinks and to visit your dentist regularly or as recommended. While all these are important to ensuring good dental health, currently most dental practices have cancelled routine dental check-ups, unless for emergency cases. This means that is greatly up to you to ensure you are taking good care of your teeth.
Brushing Teeth Twice Daily
The simple act of brushing your teeth twice daily or after every meal can go a long way in ensuring your teeth remain strong and healthy. Dentist recommend this practice because your mouth is continually producing plague. Bits of food left in the mouth after eating mix with bacteria inside the mouth to form plaque. Plaque, the sticky yellow film that coats the teeth places bacterial acid in direct contact with the enamel. This slowly starts to eat away the tooth’s enamel, resulting in tooth decay.
So, rather than letting this happen and then look for toot decay treatment, it is better to work on the prevention. To properly brush your teeth, place your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle to the gums and then gently move it in circular motions as opposed to back and forth strokes. Make sure to brush the outside, inside and chewing surface of every tooth and keep brushing for at least 2 minutes. Use a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste or one that is recommended by your dentist.
Besides just keeping your teeth free of plaque, brushing daily helps prevent tartar and bad breath. It also improves the health of your gums so that you can prevent gum disease. You can actually reverse the early phase of gum disease by properly brushing your teeth daily. Flossing once a day and using a mouth rinse will also help clean out anything your toothbrush couldn’t get to.
Healthy Diet for Your Teeth and Gums
Sugary and acidic foods are a big enemy to the health of our teeth. The mouth is usually laced with a balance of both good and bacteria at any given time. However, sugar and acid destroy this balance as the bad bacteria feed on them producing acids that threaten the health of the teeth. The result of this is having your enamel eaten away by the acid, increased tooth sensitivity, pain and overall weakness of the tooth.
Since you cannot completely cut out intake of such foods, we advise that instead limit their intake by introducing healthier alternative into your diet. For instance, instead of drinking a soda, you could have an apple. Also make a point to brush your teeth after indulging in things like cakes and chocolates to clean out any excess sugar that is leftover in the mouth.
Maintaining a healthy balanced diet is also important as it ensure your teeth get all the needed nutrients. A good diet also keeps you in good shape which closes room for any opportunistic illnesses that may also have effect on your teeth.
What to do in a Dental Emergency
Before coming to our emergency dentist in Calumet City, IL, you are advised to call ahead. This is to ascertain the nature of your emergency and it is also a life serving measure in this time of the corona virus pandemic. If there is need for you to see the dentist, you will be instructed on the measure to follow so that we can relieve you from any pain or discomfort and help save your tooth. learning some basic first aid responses to dental emergencies can also help greatly in preventing the situation from getting worse.
We serve the surrounding location of Calumet City which include South Chicago, Evergreen PARK, East Side, Oak Lawn and Crestwood.
