Follow this nightly dental routine and be cavity-free for your next checkup
We all know this much: cavities are bad.
Not good.
No bueno.
When the dentist lets you know that you have one, your heart sinks a little bit.
Why?
Because for some it kind of feels like they just got a big fat F on their dental exam, and nobody likes bad grades. For others, it seems like a reflection of their character or dedication to dental hygiene.
But here’s the thing – most people get a cavity or five in their lifetime, and you’re not awful if you have to get one filled every once in a while.
The good news is that there are ways to avoid them. You just have to have some discipline!
Your new nightly dental routine
- Brush your teeth…for a while
Yes, this is step number one for a reason. It’s incredibly obvious, but brushing your teeth for a good amount of time is one of the best ways you can prevent acids and sugars from eating away at your tooth enamel and causing decay.
The real key, though, is to brush them for long enough. Dentists recommend a whole two minutes. This will most likely feel like a very very long time at first, but it’s necessary to keep your pearly whites, well…white.
When you brush, use short, gentle strokes over the surfaces and gumlines, taking care to pay equal attention to the outside, inside, and chewing surfaces.
- Floss twice a day
Flossing is definitely not a fan favorite, but how else are you supposed to remove all that food debris from between your teeth ?
Trust us. If you don’t already floss, you might be disgusted (read: fascinated) to see how much food gets lodged in the cracks.
And do you know what happens to that food? It decays. It damages your enamel.
It also doesn’t smell great.
Floss using either a waxed or unwaxed floss, or turn to some other cool flossing tools we talked about in a previous blog.
- Brush with fluoride toothpaste
Fluoride is a great thing.
It is a mineral that works wonders in the cavity fighting department, and it prevents mineral loss and the resulting damage to enamel.
Here are a few types of toothpaste that have been approved by the American Dental Association
- AIM Cavity Protection Toothpaste Gel
- AloeSense Toothpaste
- Aquafresh for Kids Toothpaste
- Arm & Hammer Dental Care Advance Cleaning Mint Toothpaste with Baking Soda
Click here for more products approved by the ADA.
So there you go.
It’s not a breakthrough in dental hygiene, but these are three things that you can do every night to greatly improve the likelihood that you will survive your next teeth cleaning cavity free!
As always, visit Dr. Chauvin in Lafayette for a easy (and judgement free) appointment.
