Better teeth, better health

Teeth play a huge role in our lives. They help us talk and speak clearly, chew and digest food, and overall gives us the confidence to live our lives. Looking after them helps prevent cavities and gum disease. If you don’t look after them then you will allow plaque to sit in your mouth. This then hardens and becomes tartar that starts removing your enamel. And once your enamel is gone, it is gone forever. No treatment nor surgery can rebuild enamel.

What is enamel and why is it so important?

Definition of enamel – “The hard white outer surface of a tooth which is made from calcium and acts as a protective layer.” Designed specifically to protect the teeth from damage, it is a substance that forms a shell around the top of every tooth. Without this protection, the teeth would sustain serious amounts of damage and an increased amount of risk for infection.

Top Tips

Brush for TWO minutes TWICE a day. Brushing with fluoride toothpaste is the key to maintaining good oral health. It is important because it removes plaque.

Floss your teeth. Also known as interdental cleaning. Flossing before brushing your teeth allows a higher success rate of removing plaque.

Spit, DON’T rinse. After you brush your teeth, spit out the toothpaste. If you rinse, you are washing away the fluoride which helps protect your teeth. Fluoride helps strengthen tooth enamel.

Try a mouthwash. Add a fluoride mouthwash to your daily oral hygiene schedule. Mouthwash can help freshen your breathe by killing any bacteria associated with bad breathe.

BEWARE of snacking. Snacking on sugary foods and drinks may seem harmless but it is the biggest enemy for your teeth. Try and maintain a healthy balanced diet an d avoid sugar when possible as it can cause a lot of damage to your teeth.

It’s NEVER too late. It’s never too late to look after your teeth. The sooner you realise the importance of oral health, the quicker you can improve your routine and replace a bad habit with a good one.