Looking After Your Smile: Essential Tips for Dental Health

A smile is one of the gateways to relationships. Your mouth is where you speak, smile, breathe, eat, and drink. It’s such a crucial element to your body, your quality of life, your relationships, and, yes, your health.

Looking after your smile is so much more than mere vanity. Sure, wanting a 3D white smile is optional, but wanting a pretty smile is not much to ask. There are also so many ways to make sure your smile stays lovely on a regular basis – or know how to fix it properly with the help of experts.

Looking after your smile properly requires so much more work than just brushing your teeth in the morning and at night. To look after your teeth, you’ll want to follow these essential tips:

First Up: What To Do If You Already Have Signs of Tooth Decay

Tooth decay, or cavities, often starts without noticeable symptoms. However, as it progresses, you might experience:  

• Toothaches
• Swollen gums
• Gum bleeding
• Cracks in teeth
• Chips or breaks in teeth
• Black spots or holes

In most cases, your tooth problems should be fixable. However, if they are not, they will need to be removed. This is the case with severe tooth decay, damage, or gum disease. The good news is you don’t need to go around with holes in your mouth or dentures. Instead, you can get high-quality, natural-looking dental implants in Washington DC, which give you the look, feel, and function of real teeth.

Essential Tips for Dental Health

Maintaining good dental health is so important. You may not have reached those signs of dental decay, or have just got back from a dental appointment to fix those issues. Either way, it’s time to start implementing these essential tips to finally get on top of your dental health.

Book in Regular Dental Appointments

It’s a good rule of thumb to visit your dentist once every six months. During that appointment, they will properly clean your teeth of all plaque and tartar, which are two of the common causes of tooth decay if left untreated. The dentist will also have a look at your mouth, checking it over for any signs of cavities. Catching issues early is cost-effective and will spare you pain.

Improve Your Dental Routine at Home

You need to be more gentle when you brush your teeth, and you do need to use dental floss. Trying to get all the food bits from between your teeth through brushing alone can irritate gums, leading to your gums receding or worse. Flossing instead gets to the source of the issue. If you find using dental floss a challenge, then you can swap to a water flosser instead.

Improve Your Diet

You are what you eat. If you had trouble with tooth decay in the past, then it’s time to make drastic changes. This means cutting down or cutting out smoking, alcohol, and sugary foods. If you partake in any of these, then after 30 minutes, brush your teeth and floss.