Staying Well: How to Keep Your Mouth Healthy

Have you checked off the following from your list of things to-do?

1. Go get a comprehensive dental exam with x-rays

2. Finish any treatments recommended by your dentist

3. Get cleanings every 6 months (or at intervals suggested by your dentist).

If you have completed all dental treatment necessary up to this point, congratulations! But now what do you do? Here are some tips to help you maintain a healthy set of teeth! 

If you follow the listed suggestions, you will have the best chance of maintaining optimum oral health for the longest time. If you are unsure about any aspect of what you should be doing, please contact Omni Dental Group for further instruction.

• Brush, floss, and use recommended dental cleaning aids correctly, at least once each day. Use a fluoride-containing mouthrinse (not a prescription medication) at least once each day.

• Please come to the office for recare hygiene appointments at the specific intervals we recommend. This is very important. Most people should come in every 6 months. With this interval, there is the best opportunity to prevent disease or correct problems found early when they are small, easier, and less expensive to treat.

• Each time you come in to have your teeth cleaned and examined, make your next hygiene recare appointment before you leave the office. This way you will stay in the "system" and not get lost. But please try to remember when you are due for an appointment.

• Do not chew on ice or frozen candy bars, bite on hard candy, or keep hard candy or breath mints in your mouth on a routine basis. Any sugar food that you keep in your mouth for a long time (as it dissolves) can easily and quickly cause tooth decay.

 
 

• If you have followed our advice, we have used the best and most appropriate procedures and materials for you. You should receive years of successful service from them. Natural teeth and restorative materials are subjected to great stress on a daily basis. Please do not put things in your mouth that do not belong there. This will tremendously shorten the effective life span of your teeth and restorations.

• If you smoke, stop. If you cannot stop, remember that smoking has a negative effect on your gum tissue and on your general health.

• Smoking and drinking coffee, tea, and cola beverages will have a tendency to stain or darken your teeth over time. This can be reversed with your regular recare dental hygiene and, if necessary, noninvasive tooth whitening procedures.

• If you have had a protective mouthguard made (to protect your new restorations or reduce the effects of a bruxing/grinding habit), please wear it as instructed.

Like any piece of machinery, service on a routine basis is necessary if the machine (or your teeth and restorations) are to last you the longest possible time. Teeth and restorations can break from excessive force or trauma. If you take care of your car, it will last longer than if you never change the oil, fluids, etc., and will cost you must less to keep in operation. Your teeth and gums need regular are too. No individual treatment you received cost as much as your car, but with adequate care, you will probably still have your restorations long after the car is history.