Our Glendale dental team sees this scenario far too often—a patient comes in to our office feeling confident about his smile. His teeth look pretty clean, and he isn’t suffering from any dental cavities. However he has a significant amount of build up between his teeth. This plaque build up has caused the first stage of gum disease—gingivitis.
Brushing your smile at least twice a day is a great way to remove plaque from the flat surfaces of your teeth. But you can’t clean between your teeth with brushing alone. So what should you do to make sure that you’re reaching those tight spaces between your teeth?
1. Floss. This is one of the best things that you can do for your smile! Most patients already know that they should be flossing, but few patients actually take the time to floss at least once a day. Set time aside to floss at least once a day. Before bed, floss your top and bottom teeth—this will help scrape away plaque from between your teeth and dislodge any dental debris. After flossing, simply brush your teeth thoroughly and rinse your mouth with water!
2. Mouth rinse. You can also add a mouth rinse into your regular routine to kill even more bacteria between teeth. A mouth rinse is especially effective when used right after flossing; at it can clear away plaque that you dislodged as you flossed.
3. Avoid toothpicks and metal dental instruments. If you feel like you have something stuck in your teeth, use floss! Picking at your teeth with harsh instruments can damage your dental enamel and your gum tissue.
If you’d like any more detail about how best to maintain your smile at home, don’t hesitate to give our Glendale dentist office a call. And at your first consultation with us can help you devise an oral hygiene strategy that works for you, specifically!