Building Better Dental Habits

Dentist Blog

Going to the dentist can be an uncomfortable and expensive experience. However, you can avoid most negative experiences at the dentist simply by building better dental habits at home. By taking care of your mouth, you will reduce the chances of needing expensive dental procedures in the future. Here are some tips to help you get started:

Quality Over Quantity When It Comes To Brushing

Some people brush after every meal, and while that can be perfectly useful, it doesn't always mean that they are brushing the right way. A short, quick brush that fails to get in the crevices of your mouth will not remove all of the gunk for your mouth, and even if you repeat the process several times a day, you may never remove those food particles. In turn, those particles can lead to serious dental decay over time, possibly forcing you to get fillings, crowns, or even a root canal in the future.

Therefore, you want to make sure that you aggressively clean every corner of your mouth every time you brush. Brushing twice a day is more than enough if you manage to clean everywhere. As long as you are thorough, you really don't need to brush after every meal.

Flossing Will Get Easier Over Time

Getting started with flossing is often the hardest part of building better dental habits. When you start flossing, your gums will likely bleed quite a bit, which can really turn you off from the practice. However, that bleeding will rapidly stop, often in as short as a single week or two. After that, flossing will be quite comfortable, since your gums will adjust to the sensation over time.

If you fail to floss properly, then you will leave a lot of problematic material in between your teeth. Brushing will not reach some of this material, no matter how hard you try. Since this material is often trapped in between teeth, it's actually fairly close to the root of your tooth.

This means that decay caused by hidden particles can lead to infection of the pulp and nerve much faster than food particles that sit on the top of your teeth. Combine this with the fact that it can be incredibly hard to notice food particles that are trapped between your teeth, and you end up with a situation where extensive tooth decay and expensive dental procedures become necessary.

Visit a family dentist like Four Corners Dental Group Fairbanks for more tips.

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20 April 2016

Emergency Dental Care

The average dentist takes many client appointments each day and also deals with emergency situations on a regular basis. Dental emergencies are very common because people are likely to put off having tooth pain fixed until the pain becomes unbearable. Some people have anxiety about dental visits, and others are trying to avoid the expense of dental care. In either case, the end result is often a dental emergency. I have worked as a professional dental hygienist for many years and have seen all types of dental emergencies. I hope that this blog will help people identify potential emergencies before they become too serious and will allow people to know when to get help.