Tips for a healthy mouth, teeth and gums
Tips for a healthy mouth, teeth and gums:
Clean your teeth well twice a day, after breakfast and last thing before you go to sleep at night. After a meal have a drink of water (this washes your teeth and mouth).
Use a small toothbrush with soft bristles. Hard and medium bristled toothbrushes can damage teeth and gums.
Use fluoride toothpaste. Spit it out when you have finished cleaning your teeth. Rinsing your mouth will wash out too much of the protective fluoride. ‘Spit, don’t rinse’.
Gently and thoroughly brush each side of every tooth and the gums. It should take about 3 minutes to do them all.
Avoid cleaning your teeth soon after drinking acid drinks such as orange juice. The acid in drinks softens the enamel, and cleaning can scratch the enamel while it is soft. Rinse your mouth with water, wait for about half an hour, then clean your teeth.
Dental floss cleans between your teeth, get your dentist to show you how to use floss.
Once a week you can check your toothbrushing skills by rinsing with a liquid called Disclo-gel*. This is a pink liquid that stains the plaque pink and makes it easier to see. Disclo-gel* can be bought from a chemist. If your teeth are not totally clean, there will be a pink stain on a tooth. Brush that stain off and remember how you did it, so that you can add that to how you clean your teeth.
Wash your hands after going to the toilet and before using your toothbrush.
Don’t start smoking. It stains your teeth and can lead to disease in the mouth.