How to stick to your dental resolutions this year

Good dental care helps you stay fit and healthy by keeping bacteria under control. Proper oral hygiene not only keeps teeth or gum infections away but also reduces your risk of other diseases like cardiovascular disease or pneumonia. Yes, as unlikely as it seems, poor oral health contributes to these and many other ailments. Isn’t that a great reason to make dental hygiene your new year’s resolution? Here are a few dental tips to help you stick to your oral care resolutions this coming year.

Brush long enough

Did you know that just brushing twice a day is not enough? You must brush for a full two minutes to ensure that your oral hygiene is truly up to the mark. While brushing twice a day may not be a challenging goal to keep, ensuring the two-minute brushing routine can be difficult to maintain. A simple tip to stick to the two-minute brushing resolution is to get an electronic toothbrush with a buzzer inbuilt that tells you when the time is up. Otherwise, play a tune on your phone that lasts precisely two minutes when you start brushing.

Floss regularly

Flossing helps significantly in keeping gum disease at bay by eliminating bacteria that thrive under the gums. Keep in mind that gum disease, when left unchecked, can result in the loss of teeth. So, if you want to keep your teeth and avoid a painful infection that prevents you from enjoying the foods you love, you must keep up with your resolution to floss every day. Keep floss sticks in your bag, in your desk drawer, and, of course, by the sink at home so that you are reminded to do it all through the day and have no excuse to ‘miss.’ You can also experiment with different types of floss to make the boring oral hygiene activity more enjoyable.

Dairy for your teeth

Dairy products contribute a lot towards dental health. They also help with oral hygiene because more saliva is produced when you eat these products. This helps clean away the food particles and plaque left over or between teeth. A simple way to promote oral hygiene is to include enough dairy products at meal times. You can also carry packaged cheese, flavoured milk, or yoghurt to snack on in between meals instead of drinking extra coffee/ carbonated drinks or binging on sugary stuff when your stomach begins to rumble. Your teeth and your tummy will both thank you.

The right drinks

Are you careful about drinking only naturally sweetened drinks to safeguard your health? Well, even that isn’t helping your teeth. And if you love the citrus flavoured waters, then your teeth are in more trouble than you think. Both these have acid content that can wear down the tooth enamel. Don’t have too many of these drinks and if you do have either, give your teeth some time to recover. Drinking plenty of regular, plain water is a great way to maintain oral and overall health.

With these simple tips to keep your smile intact and beautiful, tackle your dental resolutions this year with aplomb.

Ashraf Dentistry wishes you a happy and healthy New Year with a smile that dazzles with health!