Nobody's perfect, we know and understand that. But here's a few tips to help you realise what you may be doing wrong when it comes to y
5. Not Flossing
A lot of people discount how important flossing is. The fact of the matter is that flossing is like brushing between your teeth, all those spots that your toothbrush just can't physically get to. It removes bits of food that get stuck between your teeth (much safer and more comfortable and more effective than a toothpick) that can cause cavities, but also can cause bad breath. If you want your teeth to shine, be cavity free and your breath to not drive people away, you've got to floss!
4. Eating The Wrong Foods
Many people realise that some foods are bad for their teeth, but they don't realise some other things are also bad for their teeth as they're labelled as "healthy". An example of this is fruit juice. Fruit juice that you buy at the supermarket contains large amounts of sugar, and with citrus juices (such as orange) there's also a lot of acids. These two combined corrode your teeth as badly as a soft drink would.
3. Brushing Teeth Straight After Eating
This is one that confuses people, but ideally, you should not be brushing your teeth straight after eating. This is because when we eat, sugars stick to our teeth. Sounds like a perfect time to brush right? Wrong! At this time, your teeth are sensitive to the abrasiveness of a toothbrush, you'd just be pushing sugars further into your teeth. The best thing to do is drink water and chew sugarfree gum. This encourages your saliva to neutralise the sugars and acids in your mouth, after doing this, then you should brush your teeth.
our oral hygiene. 5. Not Flossing
A lot of people discount how important flossing is. The fact of the matter is that flossing is like brushing between your teeth, all those spots that your toothbrush just can't physically get to. It removes bits of food that get stuck between your teeth (much safer and more comfortable and more effective than a toothpick) that can cause cavities, but also can cause bad breath. If you want your teeth to shine, be cavity free and your breath to not drive people away, you've got to floss!
4. Eating The Wrong Foods
Many people realise that some foods are bad for their teeth, but they don't realise some other things are also bad for their teeth as they're labelled as "healthy". An example of this is fruit juice. Fruit juice that you buy at the supermarket contains large amounts of sugar, and with citrus juices (such as orange) there's also a lot of acids. These two combined corrode your teeth as badly as a soft drink would.
3. Brushing Teeth Straight After Eating
This is one that confuses people, but ideally, you should not be brushing your teeth straight after eating. This is because when we eat, sugars stick to our teeth. Sounds like a perfect time to brush right? Wrong! At this time, your teeth are sensitive to the abrasiveness of a toothbrush, you'd just be pushing sugars further into your teeth. The best thing to do is drink water and chew sugarfree gum. This encourages your saliva to neutralise the sugars and acids in your mouth, after doing this, then you should brush your teeth.
2. Not Brushing Long Enough
The average person brushes their teeth for 45 seconds every time they brush. This is less than half the time you should be spending brushing your teeth! The ideal length of time is 2 minutes twice a day (recommended as after breakfast and right before bed). There are great ways for you to time yourself to make sure you're getting it right, there are some wonderful phone apps for this exact purpose (my personal favourite is "brush DJ" which plays music from your phone for the two minutes and vibrates when it's time to move on to the next quarter of your mouth) or you could always go the old-school route and use an egg timer, or get an electric toothbrush with a built in timer. The possibilities are endless, whatever works to help you brush more effectively, do it.
1. Only Seeing The Dentist When In Pain
This is the big one! You shouldn't wait till you're in pain to see the dentist. It can already be too late at that point and you may have to lose a tooth, alternatively, it could be so infected that you need to see a specialist and that can get very expensive. We contact you every six months for a reason, if you keep up to date with your check ups and get a scale and clean regularly, the dentist can spot problems developing and stop them from getting worse. In addition to this, a clean removes plaque and tartar to prevent them from eating away at your teeth causing you to have a filling.
If it's been more than six months since you last saw your dentist, why not give us a call on 1300 858 838, fill in the request form to the right --> or if you're near Forest Hill, you can make an appointment through our website www.aplus-smiles.com Our lovely dentists (pictured below) are ready and rearing to take care of your teeth!
The average person brushes their teeth for 45 seconds every time they brush. This is less than half the time you should be spending brushing your teeth! The ideal length of time is 2 minutes twice a day (recommended as after breakfast and right before bed). There are great ways for you to time yourself to make sure you're getting it right, there are some wonderful phone apps for this exact purpose (my personal favourite is "brush DJ" which plays music from your phone for the two minutes and vibrates when it's time to move on to the next quarter of your mouth) or you could always go the old-school route and use an egg timer, or get an electric toothbrush with a built in timer. The possibilities are endless, whatever works to help you brush more effectively, do it.
1. Only Seeing The Dentist When In Pain
This is the big one! You shouldn't wait till you're in pain to see the dentist. It can already be too late at that point and you may have to lose a tooth, alternatively, it could be so infected that you need to see a specialist and that can get very expensive. We contact you every six months for a reason, if you keep up to date with your check ups and get a scale and clean regularly, the dentist can spot problems developing and stop them from getting worse. In addition to this, a clean removes plaque and tartar to prevent them from eating away at your teeth causing you to have a filling.
If it's been more than six months since you last saw your dentist, why not give us a call on 1300 858 838, fill in the request form to the right --> or if you're near Forest Hill, you can make an appointment through our website www.aplus-smiles.com Our lovely dentists (pictured below) are ready and rearing to take care of your teeth!