Oral Health: A Comprehensive Guide to Maintaining a Healthy Mouth
Oral health is so much more than just having a nice smile and pretty teeth. Poor oral hygiene can give you bad breath, cause jaw pain, increase your risk of cavities, and expose you to gingivitis? Good oral health can help you avoid serious issues like these, but did you know that your general health can be very much affected too?
This article will help you understand the importance of practicing good oral hygiene on a daily basis so that you can reduce your risk of developing periodontal disease or other oral issues in the future. Keep reading to discover everything you need to know about improving your smile and keeping your pearly whites pearly white!
What is Good Oral Health In General?
When it comes to good oral health, there are a few things that you should look out for:
Healthy gums: Healthy gums will be pink in color, firm to the touch, and free of any swelling or bleeding. Healthy gums help prevent periodontal disease because they are able to trap harmful bacteria before it reaches the rest of your body.
Healthy teeth: Healthy teeth will be free of cavities, have a slight shine to them, and not cause you any pain when you eat or smile.
Healthy diet: A balanced diet can help keep your teeth strong and healthy while minimizing your risk of developing cavities. Healthy foods include fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and whole grains.
Healthy lifestyle: Factors like stress, genetics, and tobacco use can all increase your risk of developing oral diseases.
Why Is Maintaining Good Oral Health So Important,
And What Is It That Your Dentist Is NOT Telling You?!
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t think much about your oral health unless you’re at the dentist or swishing a mouthful of mouthwash. But while these habits are helpful when they’re part of a daily routine, they don’t replace the need to maintain a great oral 'environment' each and every day. What’s the point in brushing your teeth and flossing daily if you fail to encourage optimal oral conditions for your mouth?
The old science tells us to brush and floss twice a day and go for regular check ups. The reality is that most of us in the Western World are set up for failure in this regard, rendering us open to daily bombardment of teeth rotting, gum destroying conditions in your mouth. How do we try to not only address this issue, but also regain and rebuild our gums and teeth? Read on to learn more.
How to Achieve and Maintain Good Oral Health 101
Let's start with the basics: Brush your teeth twice a day. First, you need to brush your teeth before you go to sleep. Brushing your teeth before you go to sleep helps prevent tooth decay and bad breath. You should brush your teeth for around two minutes, making sure you brush all surfaces, including the gum line where plaque can accumulate. Some people prefer to use an electric toothbrush because it cleans your teeth better. However, you can use a regular toothbrush just as effectively, you just need to make sure you spend enough time brushing each part. If you’re in a rush, you’re probably not going to be able to clean your teeth well.
Second, you need to brush your teeth once you wake up. Brushing your teeth once you wake up helps reduce the amount of bad bacteria in your mouth.
Floss your teeth once a day: There are many people who think they don’t need to floss their teeth because they use a toothbrush. However, tooth brushing cannot remove all of the plaque that has built up between your teeth. In fact, it can only remove about 40% of plaque from your teeth. Flossing is the best way to remove plaque from your teeth that a toothbrush just can’t get to.
How to Protect Your Teeth From Disease - Nutrition & Lifestyle
Practice good nutrition: As mentioned above, keeping a balanced diet is extremely important when it comes to protecting your teeth from disease. Make sure that you are eating a healthy and nutritious diet to give your teeth and gums a fighting chance against diseases like gingivitis and cavities. Be sure to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables as these foods are rich in vitamins and minerals that promote oral health.
Avoid smoking: If you smoke, you need to kick the habit as soon as possible. Smoking can increase your risk of developing gum disease and other oral diseases. It can also increase your risk of developing heart disease. If you want to protect your teeth from disease, refrain from smoking.
Limit your caffeine intake: If you drink lots of coffee, you might want to scale back on your caffeine intake. High amounts of caffeine can cause your teeth to become sensitive and promote bacteria growth. If you want to protect your teeth from disease, you might want to reduce your caffeine intake.
These are good tips designed to give your teeth and gums a fighting chance!.....however, the latest cutting edge research suggests that, even if you are doing everything right......yes everything, it does not stop you from likely having an imbalance of good oral bacteria in your mouth and therefore by extension, from suffering from cavities, gum disease and bad breath.
The studies conclude that while nutrition and lifestyle is important in good oral hygiene, it does not actually determine the outcome! So what can we do? Read on to find out...
How To Protect Your Mouth From Disease - Good Bacteria
(Getting To The Real Cause Of Your Tooth Decay & Gum Disease)
We have all heard by now about our immune system, 70% of which is in our colon, being composed of bacteria, both 'good' and 'bad'. If we encourage a plentiful and majority supply of 'good' bacteria, we produce and experience a healthy environment in our digestive system, that transmits to our entire body, producing a feeling of wellness, or 'ease'. When the opposite happens, the 'bad guys' are winning and we feel ill, falling under a state of 'dis-ease'.
It has been known since the early 1920s that bad bacteria in the mouth, such as Streptococcus mutans, not only attaches itself to teeth but also loves to react with sugars in the diet, to produce acid that carved holes in tooth enamel! Unfortunately, the primitive research at the time could not realize that it was also getting help from other microbial cells in the mouth.
Luckily today, scientists are able to determine which microbes perform what functions within our oral environment and are starting to fundamentally change the long-held views about how oral microbes contribute to not only our dental health, but overall health also.
Innovative ways to leverage the 'good bacteria' in your mouth are now available, with the promise of more to come soon. Part of this innovative drive includes just such a 'good bacteria' populating product that has our endorsement. Find out more by clicking here.....
How Good Oral Bacteria Can Promote General Health
1 Some microbes in the mouth, such as Streptococcus salivarius, have the ability to fight inflammation
2 The 'by-product' associated with the metabolism of these bacteria, assists in the killing of oral pathogens constantly entering into the mouth.
3 Regulation of the mouth's acidity levels, for example by converting arginine or urea that enters the mouth, into pH balancing ammonia.
4 Convert nitrate into nitrite, which then in turn becomes nitric oxide, which helps in blood pressure regulation.
As you may know, two of the biggest threats to general wellbeing for anyone, is excessive acidity and inflammation, which is almost always the result of, yes that's right, acidity.
Learn more about the benefits of good oral bacteria by watching this short free video....
Using Mouthwash
People have been using mouthwash for decades to promote oral health. However, buyer beware. Many mouthwash products contain an active ingredient called chlorhexidine that actually destroys the good bacteria. Those that do not, while it is not a replacement for brushing and flossing, do have some oral health benefits if you cannot brush or floss.
Conclusion
This article has explored the importance of good oral health and how to achieve it. We've also discussed how to protect your teeth from disease, how to take advantage of the new scientific breakthroughs that show the need to populate your mouth with good bacteria, and how to use mouthwash properly.
Now is the time to take action and improve the health of your mouth and smile. With these tips, you can achieve and maintain good oral health and have a smile that people will be jealous of!
For a summary of benefits of taking a bacterial supplement, please click here.