Your Teeth

How you can prevent dental problems?

Like anything, most dental problems are preventable so the key to good dental health is a firm partnership between good cleaning habits and regular dental check-ups. There are three areas of your lifestyle in which you can prevent dental problems. They are your oral hygiene habits, your diet and habits such as smoking.

Oral Hygiene.

Daily flossing and brushing is essential for good dental health. While most people are aware of the importance of brushing, flossing is just as important. This is because it is the only way to clean dental plaque from between the teeth which can cause decay and gum disease.

Diet.

The most important factor in diet in relation to dental disease is the frequency, not the amount of sugar intake. Try to avoid sweet snacks and drinking sweetened drinks. Also some fizzy and sports drinks can be highly acidic and cause chemical erosion of teeth.

Smoking

Smoking is a major factor in contributing to, and increasing the susceptibility to periodontal disease and oral cancers. It reduces the immune response and impairs healing of gum tissues. The continued heat trauma to the mouth also is a factor that can lead to the formation of oral cancers.

Dental Checkups

Like most things, dental problems start small, and when they are small correction is easier. Catching problems that occur at an early stage can mean prevention or easy and less costly correction procedures. Also remember that fillings do not always last for the rest of our lives. Like everything, they undergo wear and tear, and can crack and break. If left unattended a chipped, cracked or broken filling will let bacteria into the soft part of the tooth and a major decay problem can result. However, if treated early, it may simply result in the replacement of the filling.

How you can protect your children's teeth

Even though children's teeth are lost to make way for their permanent teeth in their teenage years, it is important to maintain them in a healthy way. Not only does this prevent discomfort and toothache but also aid the ability to digest an adequate nutrition.

Unfortunately, the vast array of processed and sweetened foods means that children are still at risk from serious dental decay problems at an early age. Some of the things parents can do to ensure healthy teeth for their children are

1. Reduce snacking; especially of sweet or sticky foods (including dried fruits). It is the frequency, not the amount of sugar that increases risk of dental decay.

2. Encourage the eating of low-fat cheese after snacks, Cheese contains caseine a protein that reduces the acid impact of plaque forming bacteria.

3. Always dilute fruit juices and encourage the drinking of low fat milk or water.

4. Try to supervise or assist you child's brushing at least once a day until they are 10years old. The new electric toothbrushes with the circular heads are great to aid children's brushing.

5. Encourage the wearing of mouth-guards even when they still have baby back teeth. The mouth-guards can be re-moulded in the following season to increase their use.

6. Discourage children from using large amounts of toothpaste, they should only use a small dab, about the size of a pea. Swallowing too much toothpaste can lead to blotching of their permanent teeth.

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