We begin the New Year with resolutions or goals in various areas of our lives … including family, finances, health, fitness and career. However, it’s also important to our overall wellness that we also strive for optimum dental health.
We have all noticed various articles urging us to brush and floss daily and make sure to visit our dentist twice each year for our dental appointments; however, sometimes we don’t make the connection as to why dental health awareness is so important to our overall health. Whether you’re resolved to improve your tooth brushing habits or prioritizing the completion of a dental treatment, understanding the benefits of doing so may keep your motivation high.
Just like a fitness goal, it is important to begin by taking small consistent steps each day to achieve your goals. There’s no use signing up to run a marathon if you can’t jog around the block!!
Here are some dental health awareness tips that you can turn into goals to help you strive for optimum dental health:
Dental Health Awareness: Improve your Brushing and Flossing Habits
Let’s start small … are you brushing your teeth and flossing every day? These are simple ways for you to begin improving your dental health. It is important to brush your teeth twice a day using fluoridated toothpaste and a soft-bristle manual toothbrush or electric toothbrush.
When brushing, position your toothbrush toward your gum line at a 45-degree angle and move the toothbrush across all surfaces of your teeth to effectively remove plaque. Remember to replace your toothbrush every 3 to 4 months; especially after you have had a cold or flu or if the bristles are frayed.
It is also important to floss once a day to remove any food particles and plaque that has accumulated throughout the day.
Daily brushing and flossing will help you prevent gum disease, tooth decay and bad breath. The additional daily use of antimicrobial or fluoridated mouth wash will also help to improve your oral health.
Dental Health Awareness: Make Healthy Food and Drink Choices
An important part of achieving your dental health goals is to make healthy food and drink choices, especially for snacks. When you consume food and beverages that contain acids and carbohydrates, you are contributing to tooth decay. That’s why it’s so important to brush after meals and snacking.
When making choices for beverages, the healthiest thing you can drink is water. It helps to rinse your mouth reducing the cavity-causing buildup of bacteria and plaque. We don’t realize how many of the “healthy” drink options we make every day that are not healthy at all. As, many of them are loaded with sugars and acids, even the sparkling waters that we assume are healthy.
Dental Health Awareness: Improve Your Smile
The fastest and most economical way to improve the appearance of your smile is to whiten your teeth. It’s quick and easy with lots of options and can help remove surface stains and deep stains. Many of these stains are caused by coffee, tea, red wine and the foods you eat; however, the medications you take can also be causing your teeth to look yellowed and stained.
Don’t be fooled by over-the-counter or trendy teeth whitening kits. They can be costly and dangerous to use, as some are so harsh that they can remove the enamel from your teeth! It’s always best to work with Dr. Skrobanek to directly to whiten your teeth. GPS Dental has several options to whiten your teeth whether you want to schedule an in-office whitening or you need an at-home option.
Whitening toothpastes are also available and some contain peroxide bleaching agents as well.
Dental Health Awareness: Cosmetic Dentistry
More than ever, a beautiful smile opens doors to new opportunities and may be one of your dental health goals for this year. Many choices are now available to resolve crooked, stained, or misshapen teeth. From tooth-colored fillings to nonmetal crowns and bridges; bonding to whitening and veneers, Dr. Skrobanek can give you options through cosmetic dentistry to maximize your potential for the gorgeous smile you’ve always wanted.
Dental Health Awareness: Restorative Dentistry
You may have decided that this is the year that you’re going to complete all of the restorative dental treatments that you’ve been putting off. Whether you need a new crown, implant or filling, when you complete these procedures, you are helping to preserve the structure of your teeth and maintain proper alignment which can improve your oral health.
Dental Health Awareness: Stop Using Tobacco Products
When you stop using tobacco products of any kind, you will improve not only your oral health, but also your overall health. If this BIG Resolution is on your list, there is no better time than the present to stop smoking or using smokeless tobacco.
If you think the vape craze is a healthy alternative to smoking tobacco, think again. Not only can vaping increase the chance for gum disease and eventually tooth loss, but it can cause a variety of other problematic health problems, including wounds that won’t heal, vaper’s cough (similar to smoker’s cough) and chronic bronchitis to name just a few. Many harmful, even toxic chemicals have been found in the liquids used in e-cigarettes, like formaldehyde. Some can cause cancer. Here’s an article from ScienceNewsforStudents called, “Concerns Explode Over New Health Risks of Vaping”.
There are a lot of free online tools, groups to help you stop smoking, even apps that can lend support if you or a friend or family member is trying to stop smoking. It could be the most important thing you ever do.
Below are several organizations that offer assistance and support to help you stop smoking:
Dental Health Awareness: Routine Dental Appointments
Making a resolution for you and your family to visit the Dr. Skrobanek at GPS Dental for their twice a year dental appointment is key. Not only can these routine visits help prevent oral disease, but they can also reveal an existing disease in an early stage. Make sure you’re visiting the dentist every 6 months to keep you on track with any treatment you may need.
We hope this has helped you increase your dental health awareness and knowledge, as patient education is very important to us and our team. If you have questions about any of these subjects, we are here to help you get the support and care you and your family need.
Dr. Gary P. Skrobanek and his experienced, friendly team at GPS Dental offer affordable family dentistry and gentle dental care in the San Antonio, TX area. Our office is conveniently located and offers early morning appointment times Monday through Friday to meet your needs. At GPS Dental, we provide most dental services, from family and general dentistry to dental implants, sleep apnea, TMJ / TMD Treatment, cosmetic dentistry and much more. We accept most dental insurance plans and offer affordable financial solutions for any budget. Call us at (210) 633-3477 to make an appointment.
