Poor dental hygiene as well as making dental mistakes can affect your oral health dramatically. That means that you must constantly take care of your teeth and gums. Here at My Dream Dental, we always recommend that you brush and floss your teeth regularly as well as avoid dental mistakes to keep your teeth and gums healthy. In this blog, we’ll discuss a bit about some common mistake individuals make in regards to the upkeep of dental hygiene.      

Brushing Teeth Too Quickly

As mentioned earlier, you should brush teeth regularly. However, it is also incredibly important to brush teeth thoroughly. It takes about 3-4 minutes to brush the teeth thoroughly. However, the common problem is that most people do a rush job when brushing. Thus, they don’t cover some areas/ are unable to get a thorough cleaning.

There has been a lot of talk about the frequency of tooth brushing and its effect on oral health. So, how often and when should you brush your teeth? Keep in mind that it is enough to brush teeth 2 times a day thoroughly rather than brush 5 times with a rush job. Ideally, it’s best to brush your teeth once thoroughly in the morning and in the evening before bed.

Selecting the Wrong Toothbrush

Using the wrong toothbrush is considered to be another common dental mistake. A soft brush with a small head will be definitely the best option for most. If you can’t find a suitable brush for your dental care needs, then you can always consider the most up-to-date electric powered toothbrushes. Powered toothbrushes are considered to be a good alternative to traditional brushes, especially on dental implants. Dental implants, when done right, don’t require any special treatment vs normal teeth, however, it is generally recommended that you don’t brush them with too much force. Thus, electric toothbrushes are usually a good way to go to get that thorough clean whilst not exerting too much force on the dental implants.

Not Changing Brush for a Long Time

In order to brush teeth effectively, your toothbrush needs to be replaced with a new one every three to four months. Not changing your brush periodically will certainly minimize the benefits of brushing dramatically and can result in dental problems. The reason for this is that you use the brush to clean bacteria and gunk off your teeth every day, thus overtime there will be a buildup of harmful bacteria on the brush that, again, will minimize the effect brushing has on your teeth or dental implants. Were you sick/ had a cold recently? If so, you should replace your brush immediately. 

Brushing Teeth Immediately After Eating

Acidic foods and drinks are not good for oral health/ your dental implants. It is important to know that acid damages tooth enamel. However, a lot of people prefer to brush teeth immediately after eating. Actually, that is a big dental mistake. Keep in mind that if you brush teeth too soon after eating you will just brush the acidic content into the teeth. As a result, that tooth brushing session will cause damage to your oral health your dental implants (if you’ve got ‘em). In order to prevent this from happening – you should wait at least 30 minutes before you start brushing your teeth after a meal. Also, it’s a good idea to rinse your mouth with water prior to brushing teeth.    

Not Flossing Teeth Regularly

Flossing is as important as tooth brushing. If you just brush teeth and skip flossing then you may have bacteria between the teeth and gumline. Flossing can solve this problem successfully and helps reduce the risk of many dental diseases.

For more dental hygiene tips, visit the My Dream Dental company’s blog. My Dream Dental is a dental clinic in Las Vegas ready to help resolve your dental needs! You can always contact dentists of My Dream Dental for cosmetic dentistry, dental implants, dental hygiene, all on four as well as other dental care services in Henderson.