3 Tips to Help Keep Your Teeth Clean and Healthy Between Dental Visits
One of the biggest battles for keeping your teeth clean, healthy, and free of decay, is removing the build-up of plaque on your teeth before it can harden into tartar. After plaque has hardened into tartar, it will need to be scraped from your teeth by your dentist. Here are some tips to help you keep your teeth clean and healthy.
Bush and Floss
It may seem like an easy concept, but brushing and flossing daily is a habit that can quickly be broken when you don't follow through with it. Make brushing a part of your morning ritual, just as you take your vitamins, wash your face, or comb your hair. Researchers have found that it takes 21 days to form a simple habit, such as brushing your teeth daily. So, work to do this simple task each morning for three weeks and you can be on the way to repeating it thereafter.
Use a soft-bristled brush and gently brush the surface of your teeth. Don't scrub your teeth, as this can permanently remove the enamel of your teeth. If you can get an electric toothbrush, this is helpful to efficiently clean off plaque on all surfaces of your teeth. An electric toothbrush does all the movement for you on its head, and all you need to do is position the brush on your teeth surfaces.
Floss your teeth each day as well, before you brush your teeth, to remove the plaque that collects between your teeth and around your gums. Flossing your teeth after you eat foods that can easily get between your teeth, such as corn and other stringy foods, is helpful to keep them free of build-up. This also helps keep your gums healthy and free of inflammation.
Swish Coconut Oil
Referred to as oil pulling, this practice helps you remove plaque and bacteria in your mouth responsible for tooth decay. Each morning when you first wake up, take one to two teaspoons of coconut oil and swish it around in your mouth for 20 minutes. Spit the oil into the trash after the 20 minutes and rinse your mouth with warm water, followed by brushing your teeth.
This process of swishing coconut oil traps toxins, plaque, and bacteria into the oil that are naturally present in your mouth, boosts the health of your gums, whitens your teeth, and freshens your breath. Coconut oil is also boosts your immune system, which helps keep your mouth healthy. It also prevents heart disease, heals cracked lips, and improves acne problems in your skin. As you swish the oil in your mouth, healthful nutrients from the oils are absorbed into and throughout your body. This helps reduce inflammation in your mouth and gums, and in other areas of your body when completed daily.
Apply Clove Oil Paste
Clove oil is another natural ingredient that is helpful for reducing and fighting plaque and reducing gum inflammation that can lead to gum disease. You can use crushed cloves or whole cloves, which you can find in the spice section of most grocery stores.
Make up a thick paste with cloves by crushing the whole cloves or adding pre-ground cloves with olive oil. Press the paste onto your teeth and let it sit for a minute or two. Follow this by rinsing your teeth with water and spit the paste into the sink. Then brush your teeth as usual.
You can also add several drops of tea tree oil to your paste for added benefits to fight plaque and gum inflammation.
Use these tips to help you keep your teeth healthy and plaque free. For more information, visit a website such as http://www.accentdentalnwi.com/.