2 Methods On How To Improve Your Oral Hygiene

By Philip Yiga | June 30, 2016

Improving your oral hygiene actually requires an effective oral-hygiene routine in order to maintain good dental-health. In fact, one of the best ways of improving your oral-hygiene include brushing and flossing on daily basis but there are also other ways that will help to keep your mouth clean like cleaning your tongue, using mouthwash and many others. On the other hand, if your oral hygiene fails to improve then you may consider consulting a doctor for recommendations on how to solve your oral-problems. So, below are some of the methods and steps that you may follow in order to improve on your oral-hygiene.

METHOD-1: BRUSHING THE TEETH IN A PROPER WAY:

1. Consider using a soft-bristled toothbrush: you will need to use a soft-bristled toothbrush that perfectly fits into your mouth in order to thoroughly clean-up your teeth. In fact, your toothbrush should fit easily into the teeth-gaps because this will ensure a thorough brushing-process while eliminating irritation of the gums. On the other hand, if the brush-bristles flatten-out then consider buying a new toothbrush and it’s even recommended to replace a toothbrush every 3-4 months of usage.

 

2. Brush using fluoride-toothpaste: fluoride-toothpaste actually contains a nutrient that strengthens teeth thus slowing and reversing on tooth-decay. So, using fluoride-based toothpaste will ensure that you get best out of your daily brushing-experience.

 

3. Consider using a non-fluoride mouthwash before brushing: although most people use mouthwash after brushing, this is not good because it removes the fluoride that remains on the teeth after brushing hence making the teeth more vulnerable to bacteria-infection or decay. So, it’s best to use mouthwash just before you brush in order to retain the fluoride over the teeth after brushing. On the other hand, using a mouthwash will help to loosen-up food-particles and any plaque over the teeth hence making it much easier to clean your teeth with a toothbrush. Additionally, you may consider using a mouthwash containing fluoride after brushing for best results.

 

4. Brush teeth twice daily: you have to brush your teeth for at least twice a day in order to prevent accumulation of food-particles, plaque and to reduce on bad-breath and tooth-decay. However, avoid brushing after having a meal or after eating acidic food and drinks like coffee because such foods usually weaken the tooth-enamel and this means that your toothbrush can easily remove this layer while brushing. So, wait for about 30-minutes or drink water to neutralize the acidity-levels before you start brushing after taking food.

 

5. Hold your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle: always brush while holding your toothbrush at 45-degree angle to the gums in order to achieve an effective and gentle brushing-experience. In fact, you should avoid holding a toothbrush parallel to the gums because this makes it hard for the brush-bristles to penetrate the gaps between the teeth. Additionally, brushing while holding the toothbrush at straight-angle may also prevent the user form covering the entire surface of each tooth and this means that some debris/plaque will be left behind which is not good.

 

6. Brush using short and gentle strokes: always brush using short and gentle strokes for best results. In fact, brushing with too-much effort will irritate your gums and even prevents the tips of the toothbrush-bristles form penetrating the gaps between the teeth while brushing. So, always use a gentle back-and-forth motion while brushing and try to focus on at least 2-teeth at time in order to ensure that the outer-surface of all your teeth is thoroughly cleaned.

 

7. Always brush the tongue: your tongue can actually harbor plaque, tiny food-particles and bacteria leading to bad-smell and other oral-health issues. So, you need to clean your tongue by scrubbing the entire top-surface while using a toothbrush or tongue-cleaning tool but be careful not to move your toothbrush too-far into the throat because this may cause gagging.

 

MEHTOD-2: FLOSSING AS A WAY OF IMPROVING YOUR ORAL HYGIENE:

1. Select wide and waxed floss: ribbon or tape flosses actually cover a wide surface-area than thread-flosses. In fact, a wide-floss will allow you to remove more dirt from your teeth with each stroke taken. Additionally, you should always use a waxed-floss because it can slide more easily between your teeth compared to a non-waxed thread which can even break or shred while flossing.

 

2. Try flossing after brushing your teeth daily: your toothbrush will only remove some of the plaque and food-particles between the teeth and its floss that will be capable of removing deepest plaque and food-particles. So, always floss after brushing your teeth in order ensure good oral-hygiene or to eliminate build-up of tartar.

 

3. Use at least 18-inches of floss: you will have to break-off at least 18-inches of floss from an entire roll and then wrap about 1/3 of the length around both your middle-fingers while leaving about 6-inches of floss in-between. This actually ensures a tighter grip onto the floss hence allowing you to control it easily while flossing.

 

4. Rub the floss gently between the teeth: you will need to gently rub your floss between the teeth until this floss reaches the gum but don’t use sharp and snapping-motions because they may cause irritation or hurt the gums. So, when the floss is in-between your teeth then gently curve it around tooth in a C-shape and start to gently move it within the space between your teeth and gum. In fact, you should repeat this motion for every tooth in your mouth in order to ensure effective results. Lastly, always throw away the used floss because re-using the same floss may introduce bacteria into your gums and teeth the next time you’re flossing.

 

5. Expect some bleeding and pain when flossing: a little pain or bleeding is actually normal when flossing especially for people who haven’t been flossing on regular basis. But this bleeding and pain should stop after a few days of flossing and if it doesn’t then you might be having a gum-disease. However, you should continue flossing and brushing on a daily-basis in order to improve on your oral-hygiene.