Oral Hygiene - Basic Steps

Brushing and Flossing
There is no better way to keep a clean and nice smile by brushing and flossing everyday. But is a fact the problem starts when after you eat, small particles of food reside on your teeth and with time they become the undesirable plaque. The big problem is that all the bacteria on the plaque produces gum disease, tooth decay and in many cases loss of teeth. For those reasons here the basic steps to keep a nice and healthy smile.

Brushing

There are hundreds of toothbrushes on the market. We recommend the use of a toothbrush with soft bristels and a small portion of fluoride toothpaste at least twice a day, particularly after breakfast and before bedtime. When you brush your teeth, do it in circular movements so you can get all the food particles that hide on the gum line. It is a fact that following this method will take several minutes to brush your teeth but the results are good for you. Even include as part of your mouth cleaning your tongue and roof of your mouth. Be careful to not swallow any portion of the toothpaste and use enough water to rinse your mouth. Also make sure to visit your dentist at least every 6 months.

Flossing

No matter how much money you pay for your toothbrush, there will be areas that you would not be able to clean thouroghly, so a good help is dental floss. It will be a task you may not like, but is very important to do it everyday. Pull a bit of the floss and slide it up and down along the front of each tooth. You will notice a difference when the teeth are clean, but again, be careful not to floss too hard so you don't get injures in the gum. I would say that the best time to floss is before you go to bed so you have a clean mouth while you are sleeping.

Finally it is very recommendable to limit the times you eat snacks each day, trying your best to eat healthy food and getting plenty of calcium.

Tooth Whitening

Tooth whitening is considered the best procedure to reduce the yellowish coloration of teeth.

By means of a whitening solution (carbamide peroxide) and the direct contact with tooth, te solution removes the stains from teeth.

Some of the common reasons why teeth change in color are the use of black tea, red wine, coffee and the worst of them, tobacco. In other isolated cases the use of tetracycline on patients cause some darkening of teeth.

But mostly what moves people to ask the dentist for a whitening, is the lack of confidence in themselves when smiling, associating white teeth with beauty, good health or even youth.

It is important to remember that results may vary according to the patient's habits and age.

-Whitening Techniques-

Whitening Toothpastes


We can say that all the toothpastes on the market are good removing the stains of the teeth. However there are some special toothpastes that remove more stains than others (due to a high concentration of the peroxide), but none of them would have the results that you can get visiting a dentist.

Whitening Strips


The strips are very easy to get in pharmacies and essentially they are strips covered with peroxide in a low concentration, that after 30 minutes in direct contact with teeth, two times a day, for about 14 days, bring good results for the paerson, but remember, it will never be compared with the results obtained at a dentist chair.

Personal Whitening Trays


The laboratory makes some trays identical to the patient's teeth. At home, he fills the trays with peroxide gel (It can be 10, 16 or 30% of intensity) the areas that will be whitened, and for a few hours (preferably at night) the patient wears the tray, allowing the gel to remove practically all the stains on the tooth. The cost is reasonable, but touch ups are needed after a period of 6 to 12 months.

At the Dentist Office


This is considered the best whitening method that can be performed at the dentist office in only one session. The dentist cover the patient's gums with a special gel that protects the gum from irritation. Then it is applied to the teeth carbamida peroxide and is activated by applying heat or a light source. The cost may not be as cheap as the toothpaste or strips but the results and the convenient time of the entire process, motivates more people to ask the dentist for a teeth whitening.