There’s lots of articles on what to do for your teeth. Here we cover what NOT to do.
Don’ts For Healthy Teeth:
- Don’t rinse with water after brushing. That’s right, don’t waste all that good flouride, let it sit on your teeth. Just spit out the toothpaste when you’re done brushing.
- Don’t wait to brush your teeth after breakfast. If possible, brush your teeth when you wake up to remove the bacteria that has developed overnight. Then use a flouride rinse after breakfast.
- Don’t brush your teeth right after you eat. You should wait for 30 – 40 minutes to allow saliva to naturally neutralize the low PH in the mouth caused by food and drinks before brushing. If you brush straight away the acid in the mouth gets brushed into the teeth and causes erosion and loss of tooth enamel, making the teeth sensitive and weaker over time.
- Don’t use a toothbrush with hard bristles. Always use a medium to soft bristled brush. A hard bristled brush can damage enamel, gums and the root surface.
- Don’t snack too often. We’ve all heard this one before and usually don’t like it. Minimize snacking or minimize the damage of snacking by drinking some water after, chew sugarless gum or snack on raw vegetables or nuts.
- Don’t use your teeth as a bottle opener. This one is in the original article and we really hope you don’t do it….for obvious reasons.
- Don’t drink dark drinks. Did you know that a rum and Coke has a lower ph, so is more acidic than lighter colored drinks such as Prosecco or champagne? Less acid is less likely to damage teeth. Go for the champagne!
- Don’t drink pop regularly. It’s good to know that juice is a bit kinder to the teeth than pop, so if you need a tasty drink, pop is the one to leave on the shelf. Speaking of shelves, judging by how many grocery stores have a full aisle devoted to soft drinks, people must really love them. If that’s the case for you, chew sugar-free gum after having pop to help neutralize the acid in your mouth that damages your teeth.
- If you can, floss before brushing! Many people have heard that there should be an order to this but find it hard to remember which way it goes. Many people floss after they brush. Switch this around. Floss first as a kind of ‘pre-wash’ for the teeth, then brush and spit out the toothpaste.
- Don’t floss by moving floss backwards and forwards. Rub the floss up and down the sides of each tooth and each side of the gingival papillae (pink triangle of the gum between the teeth), pull the floss out gently from the space under the gingival papilla or back through the contact points. Never pull the floss backwards and forwards on the gum as this will cause damage.
Thank you Independent for a great article.
Read the full article on the INDEPENDENT here.
Contact Kits Family Dental in Kitsilano, Vancouver, BC. We would love to discuss the many ways to keep your teeth clean and healthy.
