Oral hygiene is an essential factor in maintaining overall health. To achieve sound oral health, one must see to it that good oral hygiene is maintained. When oral hygiene habits are practised religiously and routinely, there will be no tooth decay. A few measures to stay away from tooth decay are:

  • Brush twice daily: It is very easy to advise someone that they must brush twice daily; but most of the time, people just ignore this simple rule because of their busy schedule. It may be just a matter of two minutes, but still, people find it difficult to take two minutes and brush and rinse thoroughly before going to bed. When we are asleep, the salivary flow reduces, and with it the cleansing action also reduces. The teeth become more susceptible to carious attack, especially if the food remnants have not been removed. These become active sites for the multiplication of the decay-causing bacteria. By brushing, all these problems are taken care of. It is always recommended to use fluoridated toothpastes, as the enamel layer is reinforced by fluoride ions.

 

  • Rinse thoroughly with water after every meal: It might not be possible to brush your teeth after every meal. That is why dentists suggest swishing water thoroughly within your mouth after eating. The food remnants trapped in between the teeth or between teeth and cheeks are pushed out by the forceful gush of water. When the mouth is kept free of food debris, decayed teeth and bad odour are kept in check.

 

  • Inter-dental aids: The areas between the teeth generally become sites of debris entrapment. These areas cannot be cleaned easily by brushing. Inter-dental brushes are used for such purposes. Flossing daily also take care of the inter-dental area.
  • Professional cleaning once in six months: Even after brushing twice daily, there are chances of deposits getting hardened in areas like those behind the lower teeth. Such hard deposits cannot be removed by the usual oral hygiene measures. It requires greater force to detach the hard deposits from the teeth. This is done during the procedure of scaling which can be done with a sharp metal instrument, or using an ultrasonic tip that vibrates at a high speed and breaks off the hard deposits. An opening in the tip ejects water that washes off the deposits and cools the tip as well. When the deposits are removed, the number of sites left for bacterial proliferation  will be negligible.
  • Visit your dentist twice a year: Prevention is always better than cure. If you visit your dentist regular (two yearly visits are recommended), you can prevent yourself from getting new decayed teeth. If any new incidence of decay at all is discovered early, it can be treated simply at the initial level, thereby saving your time and money, and preventing further pain and discomfort due to dental decay.

 

  • Healthy diet is the key to good oral health: Stay away from sticky, sugary foods, as they increase the susceptibility to dental decay. By increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables in your diet, you increase the percentage of fibre in your diet. This does not stick to your teeth, and fibre has a cleansing action on the teeth as well.

Contact a dentist or dental hygienist at Water Brook Dental in Washington DC for a dental check-up and other dental needs. Water Brook Dental has two locations in Washington DC. The Columbia Heights location is very  conveniently located to Downtown DC, Northeast DC, Adams Morgan, Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, U-Street Corridor, Mount Pleasant and many other parts of Washington. The Eastern Ave NW location is conveniently located to Downtown Silver Spring, Takoma Park MD, Silver Spring MD, Colesville, and other parts of Maryland as well as Northern Virginia and other parts of Virginia.