Do you think you got everything right with your dental cleaning? Do you brush and floss your teeth regularly like you should, and you believe nothing could ever go wrong?
You may believe you are doing everything right, but this blog post will show you all the dental health mistakes you may be making daily that you have never ever considered.
Daily habits that might look harmless add up over the years, setting you up for bad breath, gum recession, and sensitive teeth in the long run, all of which poses poor dental health for your mouth and teeth.
Are you worried now? Worry no more, because many of these little troubles are reversible and only involve a simple change in activities of your oral care routine.
Below are the top five dental mistakes and how to fix them so you can be straight up on your way to better dental health.
1. Use of Mouthwash
Despite what a lot of dental brands would have you believe in their adverts, mouthwash actually isn’t all that superb for your dental hygiene.
Mouthwash disturbs the natural flora in your mouth and can even cause drying, thus promoting the growth of the exact bacteria you’re trying to kill.
You should want to nourish and promote a healthy balance of bacteria in your mouth for great breath, cavity prevention, and even overall health. Ever heard of taking probiotics for gut health? The same principle applies for your mouth.
If you’ve been using mouthwash for a long time or have taken antibiotics at any point in your life, you can restore this balance by including probiotic-rich foods in your diet like cheese and taking a probiotic supplement.
2. Brushing Too Hard
Harder isn’t really better when it comes to brushing. In fact, if you brush your teeth too hard, you could cause damage to your gums.
When you brush your teeth hard always, your gums will begin to recede up and away from your teeth. This leaves sensitive parts of the tooth exposed, and this can lead to higher susceptibility to gum infections.
This problem is compounded when you brush too hard with an old toothbrush. When nylon toothbrush bristles are first made, they are rounded into little domes to make them less abrasive to your teeth, but as they wear away with use, they become sharper, like little knives.
This can cause damage to tooth structure and enamel, literally wearing your teeth away and making them susceptible to damage and cavities. This is one major reason why you should replace your toothbrush every four weeks if you brush twice a day.
Brushing the teeth too hard also doesn’t clean it effectively. When you brush hard, you usually have less control over where your brush is going - this means you will only clean the outside of each tooth quickly, but won’t get into the spaces between teeth.
3. Ignoring Pain
Any pain that causes discomfort in your mouth is a sign that something has gone wrong, and this should never be ignored.
While some pain can be easily soothed at home with ordinary painkillers, most mouth pain requires a visit to your dentist.
Some pain can be caused by an infection or abscess, which can be quite serious if not treated quickly. Other tooth pain can come from grinding or clenching your teeth, which may require a dentist to screen you for sleep apnea or another sleep breathing disorder.
Other pain such as increased sensitivity to food temperatures, pressure sensitivity, or general dull aches in your teeth and jaw can mean that your teeth have been damaged, and to fix this, you will need the help of a dentist.
The reason why you should see a dentist once any damage is done to your teeth is that it never gets better. Truly, teeth do heal themselves, but a persistent pain is an indicator that you’re past the point of the tooth healing itself and waiting only leads to further serious damage.
The sooner you make an appointment, the easier the damage will be to fix.
4. Brushing at the Wrong Times
Have you been told to brush after every meal? Well, the truth is a lot more complicated than that.
While certain foods and drinks — especially the ones high in refined carbohydrates — spur the growth of bacteria in your mouth in as little as 20 minutes, requiring immediate brushing afterward; if you brush after other foods, especially acidic ones, you might be doing more damage than good to your teeth and mouth.
Brushing your teeth immediately after consuming acidic foods can damage the tooth enamel. Acidic foods weaken tooth enamel for about 30 minutes after eating,
so brushing up to 30 minutes after meals will actually strip away the enamel in its weakened state, leading to an increased susceptibility to cavities infection.
It is a better to brush and floss before breakfast, rather than after. Instead of brushing after eating acidic foods, swish with water or chew gum to neutralize acid in the mouth. Once 30 minutes have elapsed, you can now brush your teeth.
5. Fear of the Dentist
Have you ever felt humiliated at the dentist? Unfortunately, it’s common to not only fear the pain and discomfort of going to the dentist but also the shame, and this is simply unacceptable.
Going to the dentist should not be painful or anxiety-inducing at all. Finding a shame-free dentist is one of the best investments you can make, not just on your dental health, but your overall health as well since dental health impacts every other system in your body.
The right dentist will take the time to explain every procedure, and will put you at ease. There should be zero tolerance for dentists who make insensitive remarks or shame their patients.
Conclusion: Getting it well with dental health is directly proportional to a clean mouth, freedom from pain, infection, and odour. When you encounter any discomfort in your mouth, make sure to see a dentist instead of relying on self medication. Brush and floss your teeth regularly and appropriately as stated in this article.
Stay safe and healthy.
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