How to maintain a healthy mouth?
A dental practice is a place where patients continually ask questions about how to care for their mouth and teeth to prevent caries and periodontal disease.
Specifically, in the city of Murcia, patients are demanding more knowledge and tools to care for their hygiene, because there is an increasing range of products available in pharmacies and large supermarkets.
Ideally, the patient's dentist or dental hygienist should be responsible for suggesting the best daily oral hygiene measures for each patient, depending on their dental situation and their risk of caries or periodontal disease.
In this entry, we would like to present, in a general way, the basic tips for a healthy mouth, for which it is important to implement a series of daily habits, such as:
- Adopt a healthy diet low in cariogenic foods (candy, chocolate, sweets, etc.).
- Remove bacterial plaque that accumulates in the interdental spaces, either with interproximal brushes or dental floss.
- Dental floss is made up of several filaments and is therefore more likely to fray, whereas dental tape is made up of a monofilament, which means that it is much more comfortable to use and does not fray.
- Interdental brushes are also used to clean interdental areas, but these are only used in large interdental spaces, usually caused by periodontal disease, or in patients with fixed prostheses such as bridges.
- Gently brush your mouth for 2-3 minutes after each meal, including the tongue.
- Electric toothbrushing with oscillating-rotational technology is recommended because, in addition to being more comfortable to use, it removes three times more plaque than manual toothbrushes and, thanks to its different brush heads, we can adopt different brushing methods.
- For manual brushing, we must use a medium-hard brush (depending on the patient's characteristics there are various types of brushes) and the appropriate technique would be known as the "Bass technique", which would be carried out as follows:
- The bristles of the brush are placed upwards in the upper jaw and downwards in the lower jaw at a 45° angle to the tooth, so that the bristles enter the gingival sulcus.
- Then sweeping movements are made, downwards in the upper arch and upwards in the lower arch.
- Finally, the occlusal surfaces are brushed horizontally.
- For complete asepsis of the entire mouth, it is advisable to use a mouthwash specific to your needs twice a day and not to ingest food or drink until 30 minutes after use.
Mouthwash itself is an aid to hygiene, but it is not essential to use it if you maintain good hygiene and do not have any other oral problems.
- Last but not least, visit your dentist once or twice a year (according to the dentist's instructions), as a preventive measure, for a full mouth examination.
- Remember that the vast majority of periodontal diseases do not hurt until their most serious stage and it is then that the solution consists of extracting teeth or using more aggressive treatments, which is why it is advisable to prevent this type of situation as much as possible.
Thus, following these indications, any person, child or adult, will be able to maintain an adequate oral hygiene that will reduce to a minimum the need for dental treatments, which will be limited to periodontal maintenance with 'cleanings' or tartrectomies, and the rest of the indications that the professional may foresee in each particular case.
