Importance of Hygiene

Almost nothing in dentistry is better than what Mother Nature gave you (depends on what Mother Nature gave you, of course).

Why do I say that? Because there are always seams where dental fillings and prosthetics meet natural tooth structure (“margins”) and can microscopically harbor plaque and bacteria. These margins do not exist on natural teeth in a vast majority of mouths. Thus, you need to be even more attentive with your oral hygiene at home once you have any dental work done or have to wear any kind of dental appliance. Read: Almost nothing a dentist does prevents new cavities from starting. Or for realists: Almost everything a dentist does actually promotes decay.

Your teeth are with you 24/7, so how you clean and maintain your teeth at home is one of the biggest factors in how long dental treatment lasts. But for the sake of keeping things real you should also know this: All dental work will fail eventually.

Take home: If you are not going to spend the time you need to keep your mouth clean and free of disease, then there is no reason for me to do any work. It would be a waste of our time, energy, and money.

Hygiene Guidelines

Hopefully someone in your life should have given you the lecture by now, but if not I’ll gladly pass it on here.

Minimally, you must properly brush twice a day and floss once a day to keep everything clean. If you want to go above and beyond then brush/scrape your tongue once a day and use a antibacterial and/or fluoride mouthwash right before bed because you should not eat/drink for 30min after fluoride treatment anyway.  Proper technique as well as other information can be found here: http://www.dentalhealthonline.net/

Need more motivation? Then try some of these experiments! (Yes, I have done them.)

Experiments:

  • Importance of brushing:
    1. Brush your regular way
    2. Press gently but firmly on your gums where they end right at the edge of your teeth (the gumline, or “gingival margin”). Your goal is to squeeze anything in the gum pockets (“sulci” or singular “sulcus”) up and out.
    3. If you see white material come out of your gums, then you could brush better.*
  • Importance of flossing:
    1. Brush first.
    2. Floss as properly as you can
    3. Any junk on floss was left behind from brushing.
  • Importance of tongue scraping:
    1. Just try it once. Results are self-explanatory.
    2. Compare the smell of your breath before and after scraping for extra motivation**

Oh, one more thing. Use the softest brush you can find with which to brush your teeth. It’s not about scrubbing, but gentle technique. Use enough pressure to get the job done, but remember that your toothbrush bristles should look nearly as good as new after 3 months!

*You could also use plaque disclosing solutions or tablets, but they are so hard to find!
**It is reported anywhere between 70-90% of bad breath is from the tongue, but who cares about numbers when results speak for themselves!