subject: Welcome Spring With An Improved, Healthy Smile That Sparkles [print this page] Is your smile ready to show off, or have the winter months taken a toll on your glowing smile? This spring, take your dental health into your own hands. With help from regular visits to your dentist in Fort Wayne and daily oral hygiene practices, you can bring your smile back to life as the seasons change, making way for new, warm weather. Daily preventive care, including proper brushing and flossing, will help stop problems before they develop.
Good Oral Hygiene - Do You Know What it is?
Good oral hygiene begins at home, and results in a mouth that looks, and smells, healthy. What does this mean for you?
*Your teeth are clean and free of debris
*Gums are pink and do not hurt or bleed when you brush or floss
*Bad breath is not a constant problem
If your gums hurt or bleed while brushing or flossing, or you are experiencing persistent bad breath visit your dentist in Fort Wayne, IN. If you suffer from any of these problems, it may indicate a bigger problem. Your dentist can help you learn proper oral hygiene techniques and can help point out any areas of your mouth that may require extra attention during brushing and flossing.
Know How to Properly Brush and Floss Your Teeth
If you are properly brushing your teeth it should take at least two minutes, which most adults don't even come close to! To get a feel for the time involved, try using a stopwatch, or an electric toothbrush with a timer on it. To properly brush your teeth, use short, gentle strokes, paying extra attention to the gum line, hard-to-reach back teeth and areas around fillings, crowns or other restorations. Concentrate thoroughly on cleaning each section:
*Clean outer surfaces of your upper teeth, followed by lower teeth
*Clean inner surfaces of upper teeth, then lower teeth
*Clean chewing surfaces
*For fresher breath, be sure to brush your tongue, too
When it comes to flossing, it is important to know how to properly complete this task as it removes plaque and food particles in places where a toothbrush cannot easily reach - under the gum line and between teeth. Because plaque build-up can lead to tooth decay and gum disease, daily flossing is highly recommended.
To receive the maximum benefits offered by flossing, use the following techniques:
*Starting with about 18 inches of floss, wind most of the floss around each middle finger, leaving an inch or two to work with.
*Holding the floss tightly between your thumbs and index fingers, slide it gently up-and-down between your teeth
*Gently curve the floss around the base of each tooth, making sure you go beneath the gum line.
*Use clean sections of floss as you move from tooth to tooth
*To remove the floss, use the same back-and-forth motion to bring the floss up and away from the teeth.
Talk to your dentist in Fort Wayne, IN today for more information on how to maintain proper oral hygiene this year. Good oral hygiene is much less painful, expensive, and worrisome than treating conditions that have been allowed to progress, so maintain the health of your smile now.
