Brushing
After brushing your teeth, don’t rinse your mouth out with water. Just spit and that’s it. Otherwise you wash away with water all the protection that the toothpaste or mouthwash was providing.
Parents should brush their children's’ teeth until about the age when the child can start writing in cursive. Hopefully their school teaches cursive handwritting or that would be a long time brushing their teeth!!
Brush 2x/day for 2 minutes each. The average person only brushes for 48 seconds.
Toothpaste
When it comes to fluoride in toothpastes, nearly all toothpastes are the same. They’re so heavily regulated by the FDA that nearly all toothpastes have the same amount of regulated fluoride.
Whitening toothpastes don’t truly whiten your teeth. They are simply very abrasive and will remove any external staining caused by coffee, tea, plaque, etc.
Flossing
Floss needs to hug the teeth once inserted. It’s not enough to slide the teeth up and down.
Even if you use a Waterpik/water flosser, NOTHING will ever replace the mechanical forces needed from brushing with a brush and flossing with a string
Saliva
Saliva is one of the primary proponents that prevents cavities because it acts as a beneficial pH buffer, washes away debris from your mouth, and maintains a healthy bacterial environment in your mouth. Those that get dry mouth are destined for rampant cavities.
Gum Disease
Nearly all Type II diabetics will have periodontal disease. Though it's an uphill climb for any diabetic, it can easily be controlled with regular home oral hygiene and regular visits to Central Point Family Dentistry for your cleanings.
All those numbers that dentists read out loud when jabbing a rod into your gums (at least, that's how it feels) "3...2...3...3...1...2..." What do those even mean? If you're keeping score: your tooth brush can reach 1-3mm, when your teeth get cleaned the dentist or hygienist can effectively reach up to a 5mm. However, once you get a 7+mm score you REALLY need to start considering taking teeth out.
Bad Breath
1 in every 2 Americans suffer from chronic bad breath (halitosis). Brushing your tongue, flossing, and cleaning your teeth regularly will surprisingly do wonders for your lingering morning breath.
Foods
Most foods we eat make our mouth acidic and this causes cavities. So what foods are excellent to combat bacteria from forming cavities? The following foods are amazing excellent to eat or snack on due to their alkaline properties:
Almost all vegetables especially green or orange vegetables
Most fruits
Most fish
Peanut butter
Avocado
Water
Milk
Eggs
Beans
Rice
Olives
Corn
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