Best Practices For Good Oral Hygiene Care

As dentists in Wheaton & Takoma Park, our priority is to walk beside you as you optimize and maintain your oral health, offering advanced diagnostic assessment, effective prevention tactics, and impactful education.

While we customize our care to meet each patient’s unique needs, here’s an overview of our approach to oral hygiene treatments:

Examination – We’ll begin by reviewing your dental and medical history before visually assessing your teeth for decay. We’ll then use radiographs to gain an in-depth understanding of the state of your dental health, examine your gum tissue, and assess your biting, chewing, and swallowing patterns. We’ll then determine your candidacy for certain treatments, including cosmetic dentistry enhancements, and discuss our finding and suggestions with you.

Professional Cleaning – Using clinical measurements, x-rays, and additional assessment methods, we’ll examine your mouth for symptoms of oral cancer before cleaning and scaling your teeth to rid them of surface stains, plaque, and tartar. We’ll also use this time to talk to you about your overall dental health, offer instructions and tips related to brushing and flossing, and discuss treatment options that may be of interest to you.

Wondering why we stress the importance of diligent oral care? The mouth is the gateway to the body, and its condition can offer insight on the state of your overall health. As skilled and experienced dental professionals, we understand that signs of nutritional deficiencies, specific illnesses, and even some infections are often seen first in the mouth. It’s also the area by which harmful bacteria can enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body if not eradicated by regular and careful oral hygiene habits.

Looking to keep your mouth healthy for life? Follow a dedicated daily oral hygiene routine and:

1. Brush at least twice daily with fluoride toothpaste. Your brushing technique and how often you brush is key, so ensure that you do your best to remove any signs of plaque from your teeth with circular motions, and carefully and thoroughly brush your tongue.
2. Floss at least once each day. This hygiene step helps remove plaque, which can lead to the growth of tartar if left to flourish. If you experience bleeding gums, don’t be concerned as flossing won’t harm your gums. In fact, flossing actually benefits gums and any bleeding you experience will lessen and stop with time.
3. Rinse with mouthwash daily. Antiseptic mouthwash helps reduce plaque and whitens teeth with low concentrations of hydrogen peroxide that’s safe for your gums.
4. Choose healthy foods and pass on sugar-filled treats. Bacteria causes tooth decay and it needs sugar (like the kinds found in carbohydrates) to produce acids that injure teeth. Foods and drinks made with sugar can lead to decay, so do your best to avoid them and choose fresh, crunchy vegetables that offer a variety of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins instead.
5. Avoid tobacco. Smoking causes your smile to become discolored, stained, and dull, cultivates smoker’s breath, and leads to a host of other systemic health issues.
6. See us for regular cleanings & exams. Attending bi-annual cleanings and checkups is another vital way to keep your smile healthy.

Your mouth health plays a profound role on your overall health, and at Elite Dental, we’re here to help you optimize it! Ensure that you’re taking great care of your smile by brushing, flossing, and eating nutritiously each day, and see us for your professional cleanings and assessments. Call us today!