Tag Archives: dental care at home

Father and child practicing good home dental habits brushing teeth

Best Home Dental Habits

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Everyone knows that the key to a healthy mouth is a daily routine of brushing and flossing. You should also visit your local dentist in downtown Los Angeles for regular checkups and deep cleanings to ensure that there are no serious dental problems building up in secret. But on most days, you should engage with the best home dental habits to keep oral health issues at bay.

Best Home Dental Habits

Let’s review some of our favorite at-home dental habits that can keep you on the path to good oral hygiene for the rest of your life. As some of the most common medical issues around the world, tooth infections and cavities only get worse over time if you don’t properly treat them. Here are some steps you can take at home to make sure your teeth never get that bad!

Brush – and Don’t Forget to Floss

The core part of your daily routine includes brushing your teeth, but the maintenance shouldn’t stop there. It is also important to floss to get rid of plaque and tartar that may have built up in between your teeth. These are tight and hard-to-reach spaces that the toothbrush can’t reach. And according to the ADA and the CDC, you should floss your teeth once per day to prevent a buildup of bacteria.

Invest in Mouthwash

Still looking for that extra bit of cleanliness after you have brushed and flossed? There’s one more thing you can do on the regular: Use mouthwash! This is a good way to flush out those extra bits of bacteria that might not have gone away with the brush. Additionally, mouthwash can keep other dental issues like gingivitis and even hard plaque at bay.

Use More Fluoride

There are a lot of reasons why toothpaste and mouthwash products can effectively clean your teeth, but the biggest reason is fluoride. This chemical is very good for your teeth as it helps to kill bacteria while washing away any other unsavory particles. It is essential that you invest in tooth-cleaning products that contain fluoride. In fact, products without fluoride cannot protect you against cavities. If you are actively looking for ways to keep your teeth clean at home, you must get your hands on some products that contain fluoride.

Try to Stop Smoking

Nobody is at fault for forming a bad habit. A lot of people smoke, and it’s the effort to stop smoking that can really make a difference. Over time, tobacco and nicotine can inhibit your body’s immune system and make it more difficult for you to recover from dental maladies. If you have to get dental treatment, recovery from the procedure could be a lot slower as well.

Visit Your Dentist Regularly!

Maintaining your dental health at home is vital to your overall health. You should also check in with your local experts at least every 6 months for a full examination. A certified dental hygienist can clean your teeth and perform x-rays to get a deeper look at what’s going on underneath the surface. If there are any issues such as cavities or plaque, they will be resolved right away. We recommend visiting your dentist twice a year, but you may need to visit more, depending on your individual needs.

Practice the Best Home Dental Habits Every Day

The best way to prevent dental maladies is to protect your teeth as best as you can. This includes a daily routine of brushing, flossing, and using mouthwash that contains enough fluoride to combat bacteria and waste. It is also a good idea to visit your dentist every few months for a checkup and additional treatment if needed. Learn more about preventative dentistry in Los Angeles when you get in touch with our pros at Samaritan Dental Arts today!

Woman showing off bright smile after following habits for healthy teeth.

Best Habits for Healthy Teeth

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There is a reason why famous people always have perfect teeth. They weren’t born that way; they have to go through daily oral hygiene routines to maintain their health. And that’s what you should be doing, too. You should always be taking care of your teeth and gums in order to prevent disease. Let’s look at the best habits for healthy teeth.

Best Habits for Healthy Teeth

Your local DTLA dentist can help you get on track with the best habits for healthy teeth. Use the tips below to work on your celebrity smile!

Invest in Fluoride Toothpaste

You should brush with a dentist-approved toothpaste with fluoride in it. Fluoride helps get rid of bacteria and plaque that can build up on your teeth after you eat. Fluoride also contributes to tooth whitening as it can remove sticky substances. After you’re done brushing, the fluoride will leave a protective layer over your teeth to protect it against further bacterial invasion.

Floss Every Day

Many people tend to ignore flossing as an important part of the daily dental health routine. But flossing is just as imperative as brushing when it comes to long-term care. It is too easy for food to get stuck between your teeth, causing bacterial buildup as it sits there. Without flossing, you cannot remove these bits of food and bacteria.

Not to mention, flossing can also help reduce inflammation in the gums by stimulating the surrounding tissues. Flossing is a healthy practice that you should get into the habit of doing at least once per day.

Brush Diligently – But Not Roughly

It’s no secret that you should brush your teeth every day. But did you know that there is such a thing as brushing too hard? If your movements are too aggressive, you could be doing more harm than help for your teeth. Rigid bristles can scratch your gums and cause them to bleed, paving the way for infection.

A proper brushing technique should involve small circular motions on all sides of the teeth. Make sure not to press too hard or else you could strip away your enamel (the outermost layer of your teeth).

Use Mouthwash

You can improve your oral health with the use of a mouthwash after you brush and floss. Make sure you are using a dental-approved mouthwash that contains chemicals such as chlorhexidine, which adds an antibacterial agent to your teeth. This can protect against gingivitis, gum disease, and other life-threatening bacterial infections. Mouthwash should not be the only product you use in the mornings, but it is a great addition to your daily routine.

Schedule a Regular Dental Appointment

You should visit your local dentist once or twice per year for a thorough cleaning and dental exam. It’s a good idea to take advantage of professional tools and products that can scrape away the plaque that your regular toothbrush can’t. Dental appointments are also important for preventative care, as an exam can identify the early signs of decay or disease.

You should schedule a routine checkup every 6 months with your local professionals. During your appointment, you can get plaque and tartar removed from your teeth while your overall health is assessed using X-ray equipment. Depending on your preexisting oral hygiene issues, you may need to visit your dentist more frequently. One trip to the office can save the state of your oral health!

Prevent Dental Health Issues Today

It’s time to schedule an appointment for preventative dentistry in LA. Get in the habit of taking care of your teeth every day to keep unhealthy bacteria at bay. Learn more about the health benefits of a regular dental visit by getting in touch with our friendly experts at Samaritan Dental Arts today. We look forward to helping you earn a healthy smile!

Close-up of man brushing his tongue - should you be brushing your tongue?

Are You Supposed to be Brushing Your Tongue at Home?

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When we think of dental hygiene, we often just think of brushing, flossing, and using the occasional mouthwash. However, did you know that scraping or brushing your tongue is just as important for having a healthy mouth? Here’s why you should add brushing your tongue to your daily routine and some effective ways of doing so. If you are looking for a dentist in downtown Los Angeles, look no further! Samaritan Dental is here for your general and cosmetic dentistry needs.

Why Brush Your Tongue?

Have you ever taken the time to feel your tongue? If you have, you’ve probably noticed that it’s full of tiny little bumps and troughs. Like your teeth, these troughs are a perfect spot for bacteria to collect. When bacteria collects here in these troughs, they end up being transferred to your teeth just by basic movement from eating or talking.

The result of this bacteria can be cavities, gingivitis, and bad breath. In fact, not brushing your tongue is one of the main causes of bad breath in the dental hygiene world. By brushing or scraping your tongue, you rid yourself of this bacteria and the potential of harming your teeth and overall dental hygiene.

Benefits of Brushing Your Tongue

Brushing your tongue with a toothbrush or scraping it with a proper tongue-scraping tool can improve your dental hygiene in a number of ways:

  • Sense of Taste. Scraping your tongue twice a day can actually improve your sense of taste. All that build-up of bacteria prevents your taste-buds from being able to distinguish between flavors. Making sure that bacteria gets cleared away leaves room for flavor to affect your buds effectively!
  • Gets Rid of Bad Breath. Brushing your tongue wipes away all that bacteria that’s building up in your mouth and causing bad breath. This can also improve your social skills, as most people try to avoid talking to those with bad breath.
  • Improves Tooth Decay. The bacteria on your tongue also causes tooth decay. This is because it’s easily transferable from tongue to the tooth when talking or eating. If you’ve got a cavity problem, scraping your tongue may just be the thing you need!
  • Appearance.  Another benefit of brushing your tongue is that it improves its appearance. When we have a build-up of bacteria on our tongue, it can make it appear white. This is quite alarming for some. Brushing your tongue will help restore your tongue to its rightful, natural color.

How To Brush Your Tongue

There are many ways to clean your tongue, but few that are most effective. Perhaps the most effective way is by using a special tongue scraper or the back of a toothbrush that already has a built-in exfoliating pad. With either tool, you’ll want to stick your tongue out of your mouth first and start at the back. If this causes you to gag, you may want to start in the middle of your tongue until you get used to the sensation.

Never, ever use the scraper from the tip of your tongue to the back. This only pushes the bacteria further into your mouth. After every scrape, you’ll want to wipe off any coating or debris on a cloth or rinse it off in the sink before proceeding. If you skip this step, you risk just putting the bacteria right back in your mouth. After you’ve scraped your whole tongue, wash the scraper with warm water and soap.

Brushing your tongue is an important part of your dental hygiene. To find out more about how you can improve your oral hygiene at home or set up a routine dental check-up, please visit Samaritan Dental or give us a call at 213-986-2933.