Lifestyle

5 Easy Ways To Prevent Oral Diseases

Nobody enjoys having an ugly or unattractive smile. It’s also equally embarrassing to be told your breath stinks when you’re talking to someone. Sadly, bad dental hygiene extends even farther: health infection. This could ultimately lead to a variety of oral diseases.

Eventually, the bacteria in your mouth—if left untreated—can lead to health problems. Gum disease and boneless are just two of the risks of not taking care of our teeth. More often than not, these problems are usually signs that something is wrong in our overall health. Bad oral hygiene could potentially lead to more serious diseases such as endocarditis (an infection along the inner-lining of our hearts), cardiovascular disease (clogged arteries and strokes), even premature births and osteoporosis. It would be wise to opt for a health insurance plan with MassHealth Dental providers to help you save a cost when the need arises.

Now that we know the potential risks of oral diseases, what they are, let’s take a look at 5 easy ways you can keep your oral health (and overall health) in check.

IMAGE: PIXABAY

1. Brushing

Brushing your teeth is hands-down the best (and easiest) way for preventing oral diseases. All it takes is 2-3 minutes twice a day – roughly the same time of a lot of songs. Our mouths are filled with nasty bacteria that must be cleaned every day. Besides, brushing your teeth every day prevents your teeth from falling out (Periodontitis). However, effectively brushing requires you to gently brush your teeth at a 45-degree angle using short, circular strokes. (Having clean breath that doesn’t repulse people is also a good reason to brush.)

2. Eat The Right Foods

Our teeth contain fissures, which plaque can easily grow on. Sadly, many toothbrush bristles cannot reach these fissures, leading to cavities and gum disease. Simply flossing daily removes a lot of plaque that can grow into more serious health diseases – such as heart attack, dementia, and diabetes

Believe it or not, certain foods fight plaque and tooth decay. Eggs are rich in vitamin D. Sweet potatoes are full of vitamin A, which buffers the pH content of our mouth. Even plain yogurt, loaded with calcium and immunity-improving probiotics fights decay as well. Since calcium makes up our teeth, foods containing calcium help build and strengthen tooth enamel.

3. The Dentist

Dentists are professionally trained to detect the early stages of caries and gum diseases during routine examinations. These examinations even prevent cancers from infecting your lips, tongue, cheek, gums, etc. Oral cancers account for roughly 3-5% of all cancers in the U.S. Symptoms of oral cancer include:

Mouth bleeding
Pain or difficulty swallowing
Consistent earaches
Unexplainable and dramatic weight loss
Neck lumps
Face and neck numbness

4. Fissure Sealants

Fissure sealants, which seal off deep fissures on the surfaces of our back teeth, stick to our enamel: preventing diseases from settling. These sealants help prevent decay and do not cause any pain when they’re applied.

5. Avoid All Soda

Everyone knows by now that soda is bad for us. Soda contains phosphoric acid and citric acid; responsible for that satisfying “bite”. That bite, however, eats away our teeth’s surfaces by making our teeth enamel softer. Once soda wears out our email, those acids in soda hen “attacks” dentin, which leads to pain and makes your mouth more sensitive to hold and cold beverages.

Conclusion

Having good oral hygiene is more than having a bright, white smile and clean-smelling breath. As we’ve repeatedly mentioned, teeth problems lead to diabetes, heart diseases, and infection. Our total health is drastically affected by these problems – which can be fatal if left untreated.

If you are interested in even more lifestyle-related articles and information from us here at Bit Rebels then we have a lot to choose from.