You have a beautiful smile. You have clean teeth, and healthy gums and take the opportunity to show them off whenever you get the chance. But lately your teeth have been sensitive, and you’re worried you haven’t been doing all you can to protect your smile and prevent cavities. Affinity Dental Associates are here with tips on how to prevent cavities and protect your beautiful smile.
Eat Right
The first step in preventing cavities is to control the foods you’re eating. There are foods that promote good dental health, and there are foods that are bad for your teeth. If you want to prevent cavities you have to replace the bad snack foods with the good.
Good foods include fiber rich fruits and vegetables, calcium rich dairy products, and fluoridated water. Fiber helps stimulate your saliva, which naturally cleans your teeth. Calcium makes your teeth and other bones stronger. And water with fluoride also improves your dental health.
Bad foods are things like sugary candies (sticky or hard), carbohydrates rich in starch, sodas, and excessive consumption of acidic foods. Sugary candies and other food promote the growth of plaque and bacteria if they’re not completely washed out. Starchy foods can also stick around in your mouth and promote bacteria growth. Soda is sugary and acidic, both of which are bad for your teeth and can increase the risk of getting a cavity. Finally, having too many foods that are acidic, like lemons, limes, pickles, and wine, can wear down the enamel of your teeth, making them vulnerable to bacteria and cavities.
Practice Good Dental Hygiene
After controlling what you eat, the next step is to make sure you practice good dental hygiene. This includes brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash. If you follow the correct practices for all three you should prevent cavities.
Brushing with the proper technique at least two times a day is essential for preventing cavities. The proper technique for brushing the front and back surfaces of your teeth is to start with the bristles pointed towards the gum and then to brush away from the gum. Don’t forget to brush the top surfaces of your teeth as well, particularly the molars in back of your mouth. Brushing like this two times a day, or after every meal, significantly reduces your chances of getting cavities.
However, there are some areas between your teeth, where your brush can’t reach. Flossing is essential for removing food particles and plaque from these areas. To floss, get 18 inches of flossing string and wrap one end around the index finger on the left hand and the other end around the index finger of the right hand. Use your thumbs to keep the floss taught, and slide it gently between your teeth and gently against your gum. Follow the curve of your teeth on both sides and make sure you move it back-and-forth slightly to make sure you clean all surface. Use a different surface area of floss for between each tooth cleaned. Do not snap your as that may damage your teeth or gums.
Finally, even though you’ve brushed and flossed, you might still have bacteria on your teeth and gums, or in other areas of your mouth. To take care of the remaining bacteria, plaque and food particles use the scorched earth option of mouth wash. For mouth wash you should follow the specific instructions on the bottle, as there are different kinds of mouthwash with different chemical concentrations. For anti-cavity mouthwash we recommend an antimicrobial mouthwash with fluoride.
Visit Your Dentist at Affinity Dental Associates
Sometimes, regardless of how well you eat, or how hygienic you are you can still get a cavity. Some people have genetic predispositions that make them more vulnerable. Regular visits to your dentist are you final defense against cavities. The dentists on staff at Affinity Dental Associates have over 170 years of combined dental experience preventing, identifying, and treating cavities. If you think you might have a cavity, or just haven’t had a checkup in a long time call Affinity Dental. Affinity Dental is dedicated to providing Maryland with the best dental service and oral surgery practices in the state. We offer morning, evening, and weekend hours to accommodate our patients and provide access to care to fit your busy schedule. We’re trained and equipped to tackle any dental problem you have, from routine cleaning to prevent cavities, to advanced oral surgery.
Contact us by phone at 410-719-7900, or on our website.
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