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10 Best Practices for Your Healthy Smile A healthy small can make a great first impression. Here’s how you get one … and keep it!

1. Floss Flossing daily helps prevent gum disease and gingivitis. It also helps get rid of plaque that is between your teeth. If you don’t include flossing as part of your morning or evening ritual, then you need to start now.

Not only do plaque and tartar cause periodontal disease, but they also cause bad breath, and some studies have linked a high amount of oral plaque to heart disease.

2. Invest in a Toothbrush Next to your IRA and 401(k) should be an equally important investment: the toothbrush. High-quality electric toothbrushes have been demonstrated again and again to remove more plaque than standard toothbrushes. Even though it may cost a bit more up front for an electric model, the bodies last for years; all you have to do is replace the heads periodically.

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If you’re not ready to make the leap to an electric toothbrush, then buy a soft-bristled manual toothbrush. The soft-bristles won’t irritate your gums or scratch your enamel.

3. Brush Those Choppers Most people know this one already, but it’s so important that it bears repeating. You should brush at least twice a day. Plaque eventually hardens into tartar, so frequent brushing will help get rid of plaque before it hardens.

There is a best method to brushing. You want to angle the brush at a 45 degree angle to the teeth, so the bristles are barely touching the top part of the gum. Focus on one or two teeth at a time, and you’ll be able to remove the worst of the plaque from your teeth and gums.

4. Choose the Right Whitening Products There’s a wide variety of whitening products on the market today. You can choose between rinses, toothpastes, gel pens, custom trays, and strips. Each product is designed for certain uses; toothpastes and rinses are great for coffee or wine drinkers, while pens are best-suited for small touch up work. Know your goal before you buy a whitening product. Be aware that using the products too much can degrade your enamel and lead to permanent white discoloration spots on your teeth.

5. Don’t Smoke If you care about staying healthy, then you won’t smoke. Smoking stains your teeth, and while some of the stains can be polished off, eventually they’ll soak into the inner enamel and create permanent stains.

Smoking is horribly destructive to your gums as well; it causes them to recede and creates empty pockets around your teeth where the gums have died. When your gums recede, it makes your teeth look longer and creates dark space in between them.

6. Limit Staining Drinks If you’re a big wine, tea, or coffee drinker, then be aware that these drinks will stain your teeth over time. Many of the stains are superficial, which means your hygienist can polish them off. However, over time the stains can sink into the inner enamel and become permanent.

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To avoid this, you can limit your consumption of these types of drinks, Or you could drink them trough a straw, which limits the amount of contact the liquid has with your mouth. Always be sure to rinse your mouth with water so the dark liquids don’t sit on your teeth for very long between meals.

7. Stay Hydrated Water is an elixir for every part of your body, including your mouth. It helps rinse food particles off your teeth and out of your gums, and prevents tooth decay and periodontal disease.

If you frequently consume acidic or sugary drinks, then you should cut down on the frequency. If nothing else, make sure that you rinse off the residue with water.

8. Strive for Overall Good Health Remember how we said the mouth can be an indicator of larger health issues? Medical conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and teeth grinding can all negatively

affect your smile. If your body is fighting against one medical condition, it’s always harder to fight another, so it’s important that you try to address these underlying medical issues.

Eating right, getting adequate sleep, and exercising can all go a long ways toward improving your general health.

9. Schedule Regular Check-Ups How long could you drive your car before you needed a tune-up? The same principle applies here. You use your mouth a lot, and it’s important to keep it in tip top shape. Brushing and flossing can do a lot, but nothing beats the powerful tools that a dental hygienist will use to clean your teeth and check for periodontal disease, oral cancer, and high blood pressure.

The conditions of your mouth can be indicative of larger health issues, so it’s important to visit your dental hygienist twice a year.

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10. Don’t Wait for Treatment If you have a cavity, don’t put off getting it filled. Minor toot decay left untreated can quickly transform into a large cavity that requires a root canal and a crown. If you catch tooth decay early, treating it will require less invasive (and less expensive) procedures.

Remember: tooth decay is serious business. An infection in your mouth can spread to other parts of your body.

— Dr. Nishan Halim

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