Dental Care Tips For a Perfect Smile

smiling woman

When we look at celebrities, we too feel the need to have a perfect white smile. Who wouldn’t. It’s a great confidence booster, and everyone likes someone who has a great smile.

As much as we’d want to have that perfect smile, it’s not something that happens overnight. To have a perfect smile, your teeth must look healthy and to maintain that you must have a good dental care routine.

A dental healthcare routine along with preventive habits help you not only get a white smile but also ensure that your teeth are healthy. As you know, a white smile doesn't necessarily mean a healthy smile. Artificially whitened teeth can be equally prone to any gum diseases. Taking care of your dental health is therefore very crucial.

Here are some tips to help you get a smile that people call: perfect.

Prepare a dental care routine

The first step towards achieving healthy oral health is having a routine that you follow consistently. Needless to say, you need to start by brushing twice a day. Brushing your teeth protects your mouth from bacteria that causes gum disease and removes the plaque from the surface of your teeth.

But brushing doesn't cover your mouth entirely. Almost 40% of the area in your mouth is left untouched by the bristles of your toothbrush. This calls for an addition of mouthwash, that reaches every corner of your mouth seamlessly and makes sure no area is left untouched. It also protects you from cavities, which can be permanently damaging and often a cause of poor teeth cleaning.  

To receive all-around protection, you must add flossing to your dental care routine as well. Did you know, gum disease is the prominent cause of tooth loss in the US. Doesn't sound very pleasant, does it? Flossing tends to remove the plaque from between your teeth minimizing the chances of you contracting any gum disease.

A proper dental care routine can take you a long way as long as you stay committed to it. If you follow the routine regularly, there’s nothing stopping you from getting that perfect smile.

Use Whitening Toothpastes

teeth whitening toothpaste

Although the name suggests that whitening toothpaste does only one job, in reality, they carry a myriad of benefits.

Staining is a primary reason why teeth lose their colour, particularly with people who drink coffee regularly. You may have heard the advice of brushing immediately after eating something that leaves colour on the teeth, but it’s not wise to follow. There are two issues with that practice.

First, it's impossible to brush every time after you have a meal, and also irritating. Secondly, the surface of your teeth, enamel, is slightly weak after you have food and immediately brushing can lead to shaving the top layer off. Now that’s very damaging.

Whitening toothpastes contain a bleaching agent that counteracts the staining effects that leave a mark throughout a day, by stripping the surface stains. These toothpastes reinforce enamel and provide a quick whitening solution. Oftentimes you can notice a difference in the shine immediately after a session.

The only disadvantage with using these toothpastes is that they can cause sensitivity. For some people, the nerves around the gum tissues may feel painful for a while. If you suffer from sensitivity issues, then you might need to give this a pass.

Introduce a few lifestyle changes

sugar in soda

Staining, as we discussed earlier, is caused by food, drinks and other harmful habits.

Smoking, in particular, tends to cause staining in no time, it gives a yellow shade to the teeth. Not just that, some foods and drinks are equally responsible as well. In many cases, they can cause internal staining of your teeth which contrary to superficial staining cannot be removed by whitening treatments.

Going cold turkey on the food habits isn’t advised either, as they have some health benefits of their own, it’s more effective if they are brought to a limit. In the case of smoking, however, it’s best if you eliminate the habit. Constantly smoking not only stains your teeth, which can be as early as a couple of months after a whitening treatment but also has harmful effects on your body.

Maintaining a hygienic toothbrush is a substantial responsibility as well. Using a toothbrush protector for every time you’re done brushing or travelling can protect your toothbrush from foreign bacteria; such as the BrushGuard toothbrush protectors that offer an all-round safety by providing a compact housing for all regular and electric toothbrushes.

If you introduce these lifestyle changes, you’re less likely to stain your teeth and more likely to welcome a beautiful bright smile.

Drink Water

drinking water

While we are on the health tangent, there’s no way we’re not discussing drinking water. Apart from being the healthiest drink, water tends to cleanse your mouth while reducing the likelihood of tooth decay.

Ideally, your tap water should contain fluoride, which is known to promote tooth health. If not you can use fluoride toothpaste as an alternative.

Drinking water as a substitute for drinking sugary drinks can serve you well as well. Sugary drinks tend to cause tooth decay and it’s best to avoid them. If you like constantly sipping on something, keeping a bottle next to your desk would be a healthy choice. 

See your dentist twice a year

Normally, it's advised to pay your dentist a visit twice a year. As you do that, you should also visit your dentist anytime you encounter any pain or discomfort in your teeth.

Dental problems don’t correct themselves, more so if they’re left undetected. Discovering a problem early can save both you and your pocket, such as if your tooth decay is left unidentified it might transform into a big cavity over time needing you to perform a root canal, which otherwise would have been treated by a simple filling treatment.

When you visit your dentist, mention to them any changes you’ve seen since the last time, such as increased sensitivity, change in the colour of teeth, bleeding of gums or soreness of the mouth. It helps the assessment.

In essence, the earlier a problem is detected, the earlier it is solved.

Teeth whitening is not an overnight process and getting results may take some time. Follow these tips regularly and you’ll start to see some changes in a couple of weeks. Here’s to a perfect smile!