St. Augustine, FL
Oral health has a tangible impact on your overall health. As the years pass by, it’s important for us to develop and maintain certain daily routines to ensure that our teeth and gums are in optimal condition.
Keeping a good regimen of oral care helps to curtail harmful bacteria, which can damage our gums or spread to other parts of our bodily systems. It also helps prevent potential decay or discoloration to our teeth. As we age, the more necessary it becomes to keep our commitment to these routines.
Today on the blog, your St. Augustine dentist at Palencia Dental has compiled this guide to keep your oral condition in tip-tip shape.
- Brush Twice a Day: This is the centerpiece for maintaining healthy teeth. A soft-bristled toothbrush ensures your tooth enamel and gums are not harmed. You also can use an ADA-approved electric toothbrush. When you brush, use a fluoridated toothpaste to maximize protection for your teeth against the threat of decay.
- Floss Daily: When you floss, it removes stray particles and bacteria from between your teeth in spots that you cannot reach with your toothbrush. This is a vital component of your oral care routine to maintain healthy teeth and gums. It’s ideal to do this after your last meal of the day, so that food particles aren’t lingering between your teeth for hours overnight. Using string floss is best, but a water flosser can be a good alternative.
- Drink Plenty of Water. For the sake of both our overall wellness and oral health, water helps us to stay hydrated, prevent dry mouth, and rinse away harmful bacteria and food particles from our mouth. With age, your mouth tends to become drier. Dry mouth causes a mouth to be more susceptible to tooth decay or gum disease. By drinking water, instead of sugary beverages like sodas, you’re taking a great preventative measure in protecting tooth and gum health.
- Twice-Yearly Checkups and Cleanings: These visits every six months give both you and your doctor a chance to identify any potential dental issues that may need special attention or treatment. Undetected cavities or evolving damage to teeth will worsen if left untreated. Even if you already have a tooth replacement system like dentures or crowns, you still need your gums and jawbone health evaluated and should receive an oral cancer screening twice a year.
Comprehensive Dental Care in St. Augustine and Palm Coast in Florida
You only have one set of teeth in your life, so it’s important to protect them. Good oral hygiene that includes daily brushing and flossing, combined with a healthy diet and twice-yearly visits to your dentist for a check-up, is your best path to a lifetime of good oral health.
At Palencia Dental, we want to help all our patients live their best life. A healthy smile provides the foundation for good overall health, which contributes greatly toward your happiness. If it’s been more than six months since your last trip to the dentist, now is a great time to get back on track. Palencia Dental currently is accepting new patients. Reach out to our office at 904-664-5254 to make your appointment today.
