The Importance of Brushing and Flossing During Self-Isolation
The team here at Alluvial Dental wants to extend their positive thoughts and well wishes to you and your loved ones during this time. We hope that you are including some healthy habits in your daily routines. We are specially rooting for those habits to include your oral health.
As you might already know, the dental clinics in Fresno are closed for non-emergency treatments. Our practice, Alluvial Dental Center, is following these protocols to ensure your safety and the safety of our team. Our main goal right now is to equip you with the right tools to look after your oral health at home. We understand that you might be due for a check up and we will be happy to accommodate you as soon as it is safe to do so. For now, let’s explore some of the tools available to you to hold down the fort while we wait things out.
Brushing Your Teeth
This might be an obvious one but we want to remind you of the importance of brushing your teeth. Brushing removes food, plaque, and the sticky white film over your teeth that hosts bacteria. Meals and snacks that contain sugar trigger the bacteria in plaque to produce acid that attack tooth enamel. Often, that same acid breaks down the tooth enamel and cavities are born. It is really important to avoid this sequence of events from taking place and the best way to do this is by brushing your teeth at least twice a day for two minutes each time.
Flossing
It is interesting how many people skip out on flossing. Flossing is as important as brushing your teeth. Brushing your teeth allows you to remove the food, plaque, and bacteria from the front and back of the teeth. The gaps in-between your teeth need to be cleaned by flossing. Flossing is also one of the best tools available to fight gingivitis and other gum diseases. If you are not already a daily flosser, make it your self-isolation goal to incorporate this essential habit into your daily routine.
Other Healthy Additions
Daily brushing and flossing are the most important oral health habits you can incorporate into your life. The healthy additions below are also tools you can use to promote your dental wellness.
Drink Water
Water is known to bring many benefits to the body. Drinking water can help strengthen teeth, rinse out food particles after meals or snacks, hydrate your gums, and lower the pH level in your mouth. All of these benefits can help keep your oral health intact while also making your overall health better.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Your mouth is the first point of digestion. Foods that contain sugar can really spike up your chances of getting cavities and gum diseases. This is in addition to other health effects that overindulging in sugars and carbohydrates can have on the body. Eating a healthy, wholesome diet will keep your mouth and body happy.
Including these healthy habits in your day-to-day can help decrease your chances of having unforeseeable dental issues come up. These temporary changes can also be extended into the long-term future so that your teeth and gums can stay healthy long past the self-isolation time!
