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Oral
Hygiene

– WHAT IS IT?

Good oral hygiene is understood to mean habits that allow you to have a mouth with a pleasant smell and a healthy appearance. You can expect your teeth to be clean and free of food debris, and your gums to have a pale pink hue and not hurt or bleed.

Your dentist can teach you the proper oral hygiene techniques, including which areas of the mouth to pay the most attention to when brushing and/or flossing.

What are the benefits of good daily oral hygiene?

Good oral hygiene is essential for keeping teeth and gums healthy and for preventing oral diseases. It also makes it easier to chew food, improves diction and promotes an aesthetically pleasing smile.

Is bad breath synonymous with poor oral hygiene?

No. Bad breath or halitosis is a problem that may not be caused by poor oral hygiene. To solve it, it is essential to consult a doctor who can detect the cause of this symptom and thus solve the problem.

How often should you go to the dentist?

To ensure good oral hygiene and health, it is advisable to visit the dentist once a year, from the moment your first tooth is born. This is to avoid the appearance of diseases in the teeth or gums.

What are the main functions of teeth?

  • Laugh;
  • Chewing;
  • Talking;
  • Kissing;
  • Among others.

What dietary precautions should be taken to ensure good oral hygiene and health?

A simple, varied and balanced diet contributes to good oral hygiene and health. It is therefore advisable to avoid eating sweets, especially outside of mealtimes. Smoking and alcohol consumption should also be avoided.

When and for how long should you brush your teeth?

Teeth and gums should be brushed at least twice a day for about two minutes. After brushing, you should not eat for two hours.

What tooth whitening techniques exist and how are they characterized?

There are two main tooth whitening techniques and, in certain cases, combined whitening can be carried out, where both techniques are used (outpatient and in-office).

When should you change your toothbrush?

As a rule, it is recommended to change your toothbrush every 3 months. It should be flexible and durable and should dry and wash quickly.

Which items should we use to clean our teeth?

For good dental hygiene, it’s important to use fluoride toothpaste (ideally with 1500 ppm fluoride) and a toothbrush (which may or may not be electric). It is also advisable to use dental floss or tape and a toothbrush to achieve better cleaning between the teeth.

How to clean your mouth properly?

To brush your teeth thoroughly (two at a time), start by making circular movements around the teeth, not forgetting the outside of the teeth, the chewing areas and the inside of the teeth.

You should try to keep the brush at a 45º angle to the gums and make 10 horizontal strokes on the tooth surface.

At the end, don’t forget to brush your tongue, from base to tip, in order to remove bacteria and freshen your breath.

How to use dental floss for oral hygiene?

Start by taking about 40cm of dental floss and wrap most of it around your middle finger. Wrap the rest around your other middle finger. Then, with the help of your thumbs, use the floss to remove any food debris from your top teeth. Then use your index fingers to remove any dirt from the lower teeth.

Frequently Asked Questions

During pregnancy, hormonal changes occur which affect the gums, increasing the risk of them becoming inflamed and leading to cases of gingivitis or even periodontitis. This favors premature birth and the birth of babies with low birth weights.

In addition, the risk of the mother infecting the baby with microorganisms from mouth infections is significant. Therefore, at this stage in particular, it is essential that the pregnant woman’s oral hygiene care is doubled, as well as increased visits to the dentist.

In addition to the daily oral hygiene care that patients should perform at home, it is important that they attend regular appointments where the health of the tissues supporting the dental implants (gums and bone) is assessed.

In addition, at this appointment, the implant-supported teeth and dental implants should be cleaned using specific techniques, as well as recommendations on specific hygiene care that the patient can put into practice on a daily basis.

When undergoing dental treatment, it is essential to take care of your oral hygiene in order to prevent complications such as tooth decay or gum disease. This is the only way to ensure that the treatment is successful.

To this end, regular visits to the dentist are also important, in order to monitor the state of oral health and recommend appropriate oral hygiene techniques.

Tooth brushing should start as soon as the first tooth erupts. As babies, you should use gauze, a fingertip or a soft brush to wash children’s teeth and gums.

In this case, the toothpaste to be used should contain fluoride in its composition (1,000 to 1,500 ppm) and the amount to be put on the brush should be equivalent to the size of the baby’s or child’s little finger nail.

From the age of 6, the portion of toothpaste to use should be around 1 cm, equivalent to the size of a pea.

Not practicing good oral hygiene can contribute to poor oral health and health problems in general. Having a healthy mouth improves quality of life and extends life expectancy.

As they say, “prevention is better than cure”. That’s why good oral hygiene is an effective way of avoiding diseases and other complications.

Oral Hygiene Team

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