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ORAL HYGIENE
Oral Hygiene is the first step to strong teeth and a great smile. At Alexander Drive Dental Clinic we believe that everyone deserves to feel confident with their smile. We endeavor to educate and inform our patients about oral hygiene, so your teeth can be healthy for life.
We advise our patients about general oral hygiene, dental condition and lifestyle choices, to keep them, healthy, happy and always smiling.
Tooth Brushing
Everyone knows how important it is to keep their teeth clean, but, most people actually don’t know the correct technique to brush their teeth. Many people start somewhere and end somewhere else, but often miss many crucial areas leaving dirt and debris on their teeth. It is so important when brushing your teeth to remember a few key facts:
Flossing
Many of use brush are teeth twice a day, but flossing, well, many people forget to do that! However, without flossing or other forms of cleaning that your dentist will recommend, there is no way to keep the surfaces between your teeth clean. Because of this, this site is prone to develop cavities or holes in teeth, inflammed gums and this can lead to eventual loss of the teeth and periodontal disease.
Interdental Brushes
An interdental brush is a small brush specially designed for cleaning between your teeth, where a regular toothbrush doesn’t reach. Using an interdental brush every day, as a complement to tooth brushing, is an easy and efficient method to keep your gums and teeth fresh and healthy. Cleaning with an interdental brush prevents gum inflammation, cavities and bad breath.
Cleaning Around Bridges
Gently move the spongy floss between the gum and the base of the bridge, use a soft back-and-forth motion to remove plaque under the false tooth. Then wrap the spongy floss around the real tooth at the other side of the bridge, slide up and down to clean the adjacent tooth surface.lies.
Cleaning Around Orthodontic Braces
Plaque needs to be removed from your teeth a couple of times each day, and this is even more important when you have braces!
All the brackets and wires in your mouth create places for plaque to hide. This can result in cavities, swollen gums, bad breath, and permanent stain marks on your teeth.
Plaque is a thin film that sticks on to your teeth with lots of bacteria in it, resulting in a white material that makes your teeth feel ‘fuzzy.’ Sugars in your diet cause the bacteria to produce acid that causes cavities. It also causes bad breath and gum disease.
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Cleaning Around Implants
Good oral hygiene must take place before, during, and after placement of dental implants to ensure the health of the implant. Patients are concerned about what kind of maintenance their implants will require. Do they brush and floss their implants like regular teeth? Does food get underneath the fixed implant bridge or prosthesis? Patients look to their hygienists to address these concerns and help them with an individualized home-care routine.
Cleaning of Mouthguards
It is important to clean your mouthguard after it is used as it can build up plaque and food products from your teeth. This will cause it to be dirty and start to produce a foul odour. The best way to clean your mouthguard is by soap and water. This will get rid of any dirt from your mouthguard and leave it fresh and clean!
Cleaning of Anti Snoring Devices
An inevitable part of owning a snoring mouthpiece is the need to clean it. Considering that the human mouth contains on average between 800-1000 different strains of bacteria, it’s very easy to see why daily cleansing of your device is necessary.
The inside of the mouth is dark, moist, and warm which creates the perfect environment for microbes to grow. If you were to simply store your device after each use without cleaning or even rinsing it off, it would only take 2-3 days before it begins to smell funky.
Cleaning of Removable Orthodontic Appliances
It is rather difficult to clean the teeth with the fixed orthodontic appliance in place. People wearing fixed orthodontic appliances should pay special attention to their oral hygiene to reduce the chance of developing tooth decay or gum disease. You should clean your teeth and the appliance every day in the morning and before bed at night as well as after each meal.
Cleaning of Dentures
Removable dentures require tender loving care just like your natural teeth do. But there are distinct differences between the two. Take the time to understand what’s involved in caring for dentures in order to extend their longevity and maintain the health of gums and any remaining teeth.
Smart Choice
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