One of the things I get asked about the most as a dentist is for tips on how to maintain healthy teeth on a day-to-day basis.<\/p>\n
So here you go guys \u2013 these are my eight pointers to keep your mouth happy and healthy:<\/p>\n
1. Always clean before bed<\/strong><\/p>\n This seems pretty obvious, but you\u2019d be surprised at how many people only brush once a day, or even not at all! If you go to sleep without brushing, plaque will remain on your teeth and make you more vulnerable to decay.\u00a0Research shows that if you remove plaque and the bacteria it harbours within 24 hours, it doesn\u2019t have time to produce enough acid to damage your teeth.<\/p>\n 2. Floss!<\/strong><\/p>\n A toothbrush can\u2019t reach all of those little nooks and crannies, so leave the rest of the work to your dental floss. If you don\u2019t, plaque can settle and rot away your teeth and damage your gums even if you brush twice a day like a champ.<\/p>\n 3. Avoid DIY tooth-whitening products<\/strong><\/p>\n These tooth-whitening products are not regulated because they\u2019re considered cosmetic, so there\u2019s no guarantee if they are effective, or even safe for that matter. Your dentist can tell you if you\u2019re a suitable candidate for whitening in the first place, and talk you through what your options are.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>4. Don\u2019t share toothbrushes<\/strong><\/p>\n Quite simply, other people\u2019s toothbrushes can harbour foreign bacteria that can be harmful to your teeth. Make sure you stick to your own!<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>5. Don\u2019t chew your nails<\/strong><\/p>\n We dentists can tell who is a nail biter! Chewing your nails can result in worn down, or even chipped teeth \u2013 so don\u2019t do it.<\/p>\n 6. Avoid smoking<\/strong><\/p>\n Another obvious one. Smoking does not only severely discolour and weaken your teeth, but it can lead to gum disease and oral cancer. Not to mention the other adverse effects it has on your health.<\/p>\n 7. Don\u2019t open things with your teeth<\/strong><\/p>\n Especially things like bottles and wrappers. Using your teeth as a tool for opening stubborn containers can dull, and even crack your teeth.<\/p>\n 8. Avoid tongue piercings<\/strong><\/p>\n A lot of people don\u2019t realise it, but tongue piercings can cause infection, pain, and swelling; chipped teeth; and nerve damage. In many cases, the trauma of the piercing gently but repeatedly knocking against the lower front teeth can cause them teeth to eventually fall out.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Some of these are a little more obvious than others, but try and follow them and you\u2019ll only be doing your teeth some good!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the things I get asked about the most as a dentist is for tips on how to maintain healthy teeth on a day-to-day basis. So here you go guys \u2013 these are my eight pointers to keep your mouth happy and healthy: 1. Always clean before bed This seems pretty obvious, but you\u2019d … Continue reading Eight little tips for maintaining your teeth\u2026<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-699","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightsidedental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightsidedental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightsidedental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightsidedental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightsidedental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=699"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightsidedental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/699\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brightsidedental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=699"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightsidedental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=699"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brightsidedental.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=699"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}