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Keep Your Teeth for Life
Posted by | Posted in Dental Health | Posted on 22-03-2010
Your teeth are not just important from the nutritional point of view but also have a number of other functions as well. They help you to look good, enhance your smile and even help you to talk well. However, due to the introduction of fast foods, sodas and other such foods, more and more people are facing problems with dental hygiene. As a result preventive dentistry has now become more important than ever. For those people whose teeth have been damaged beyond repair, implant dentistry is a good option as well.
Though the loss of teeth can be attributed to many different reasons, the primary cause is periodontal disease. This condition causes the degeneration of the supporting bone and connective tissue structure. The primary cause of this disease is improper dental hygiene, which initially causes Gingivitis. The main cause of this dental condition is dental plaque built up. In addition to cleansing, and brushing your teeth, you should have regular visits to your dental to prevent this. Brushing your teeth is absolutely vital at least twice a day as it helps in removing all kinds of food residues.
Here are some aspects that are a part of preventive dentistry and help in preventing all sorts of problems related to dental hygiene:
Flossing and brushing
Though it has been mentioned earlier, brushing is a vital aspect of preventive dentistry. Whether you are eating a complete meal or just enjoying a snack, the food particles get lodged between your teeth. These minute particles then start decaying which leads to the infestation of bacteria and other pathogens, Hence, it’s important to brush for at least two minutes for great results. Techniques like sulcus technique can be learnt from your dental hygienist to take care of your teeth.
Dentifrice selection
Many people tend to constantly change from one dentifrice to another every now and then. Some tend to even go back to the nature and use items like baking soda and pastes of different kinds. The idea is that when you select the right kind of toothpaste and toothbrush you need to use it for a considerable period of time in order to let it work on your teeth. You can speak to one of our dentists at Healthy Smiles to determine the right choice of toothpaste and brush for your dental condition.
Tongue cleaning
People often tend to clean their teeth and ignore their tongue, which does not allow complete dental hygiene. Despite cleaning your teeth, you may still develop infections if you don’t clean your tongue since it also houses many pathogens. Moreover, tongue cleaning is also essential for a good breath. Most dental hygienist advises the use of a tongue cleaner for this purpose.
Flossing
Flossing needs to be done at least once during the day. It helps in cleaning areas that are not accessible by a toothbrush and prevent plaque built up and cavities.
Teeth irrigation
An important aspect of a good dental hygiene is irrigating your teeth and gums daily. This is essential for a number of reasons. It can aid in the removal of food particles that tend to get trapped in the gums and cause the bacterial growth. It can also enhance the circulation of blood in your gums by massaging them. These days there are a number of teeth irrigation devices that can help you to irrigate your teeth and gums within seconds.
Consult professionals
Regularly visiting a dental hygienist is an important aspect of preventive dentistry. Your dental hygienist should be able to give you at least 45 to 60 minutes of his time to cure problems and suggest or even perform remedies. Regular visits can help in maintaining the dental hygiene for you and your family. Consult one of our dentists to establish a suitable preventive care program for yourself at our practice.
Nutrition
If you want your teeth to last for a lifetime, then you need to eat well. Nutrients like calcium, vitamin D and phosphorus are not just important for adults and children but also infants and pregnant ladies. You need to avoid food items rich in simple sugars and indulge in more complex carbohydrates and proteins.
If you want teeth which last for a lifetime, you need to take care of them along with your dental hygienist. Taking out time for your teeth is an important aspect of preventive dentistry and helps in maintaining your teeth in the long run.
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Dental Hygienist Colleen Hopkins, RDH brings to Stewart Family Dentistry19 years of exceptional dental hygiene experience. A native of Jacksonville, Florida, Colleen graduated from Santa Fe Community College in 1985 and from the University of Florida in 1986. She is an avid reader who also enjoys gospel, jazz and classical music.
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it's not fair that we only get one set of teeth…… i think everytime we lose one, another should replace it….something really need to be done about that..:)
I'd prefer to have an oily face for the rest of my life because the nasty and yellow teeth looks unhygienic.
no. you usually have all your teeth fully grown and developed by 24 yrs old. If you believe that your teeth are still growing they are probably super erupting. This can be caused by lack of occlusion (tooth on tooth contact) For instance if you remove a top molar then the lower molar has nothing to bite against and there for will start to erup out of the mouth. The only way that a tooth could slightly be considered to grow is the fact that as we age our pulp chamber becomes smaller and smaller due to the depostion of tertiary dentin on the floor and roof of the pulp chamber. Hope this helps. Jon
I am doing absolutely NOTHING useful at all–someone has to keep the weed sellers in business!
On average you have to wear a retainer for 2 years, but it's not that "strict" if you know what I mean…If you go without wearing it for a few weeks nothing'll happen; it'll just feel tight once you put it back on. But don't do that that the beginning, when you just get your braces off
both the previous answers did not explain anything to you, so let me explain.
the dentin in your tooth gives it its natural color. only a very very small percentage of people have white teeth. most people have a yellowish or even light gray color to their teeth. the enamel is totally clear.
now… when you brush your teeth a lot for a long time, you are stripping the enamel off your teeth. enamel does not grow back. that can cause your teeth to be more easily adaptable to stains. i would suggest whitening trays from your dentist. over the counter stuff doesnt really work, but you can take your chances with the higher priced stuff.
as far as the history of dental, hippocrates, in 300 bc wrote about dental health. so as early as then, they were thinking of dental health. probably because there was no way to keep their teeth clean. it wasnt long until they started making tooth pastes out of egg shells and sea shells, which is pretty much what we use today, with flavor and floride added.
people really didnt stop their teeth from rotting out. once it was discovered how to extract teeth, that was pretty much the only solution to rotting teeth. they experimented around with drilling holes in the sides of teeth and gums because they thought that cavities were caused by worms in the tooth *for real* but really dentistry has changed so much in the last 100 years… even the last 20 years
we had to learn the history of dentistry in class for dental assisting… very interesting stuff. like for instance, did you know that paul revere was famous for making false teeth in his day? he trained the guy who made george washington's favorite dentures.
That tooth should have something in it for the rest of your life. Fillings need to be replaced every 5 years or so (sometimes more, sometimes less often). If the tooth continues to degenerate, a crown is sometimes needed. Or maybe eventually you'll get the tooth pulled and get an implant or dentures. If you fail to replace the filling if it falls out/breaks, your tooth will continue to rot until you need a root canal. So in short, yes.