Benefits of good oral hygiene

​As dental professionals, we always recommend practicing good oral hygiene habits. We may nag you to brush better, to floss more, to have more regular professional cleans if necessary, but, why? What’s in it for you? Well, good oral hygiene habits can:

• Save you money! You significantly reduce your chances of needing expensive dental treatment down the road if you maintain good, healthy oral hygiene habits. Prevention is always better than cure when it comes to your oral health. If you have excellent oral hygiene levels and have regular professional cleans then your oral health should remain well maintained, and, if we do find a small hole or issue at your examination appointments, then fixing it while it’s small is a lot cheaper and easier than if its left to become a bigger and more complex fix.
• Help to prevent infection. Poor oral hygiene levels can be associated with tooth decay and gum disease. Tooth decay and gum disease over time can worsen and lead to infections inside and in the surrounding tissues of the tooth. These infections can spread and can call for emergency dental surgery and the possibility of hospitalisation.
• Brighten up your smile. Teeth can become stained over time from coffee, tea and red wine to name just a few. These built up stains can be removed during your regular professional maintenance appointments with your dentist or hygienist leaving you with a whiter and brighter smile.
• Prevent tooth decay. Plaque biofilm forms on your teeth within minutes after brushing. Sugars from your diet mix with the bacteria inside your plaque making it acidic. This acidic plaque can then start to eat away at the tooths enamel and can cause holes in the teeth, otherwise known as tooth decay. With regular good oral hygiene habits you can remove this plaque before it becomes an issue.
• Prevent tooth loss. Plaque bacteria can accumulate along the gum line of the tooth (where the gum meets the teeth) and cause the gums to become inflamed, this is called gingivitis. As the bacteria progresses it can begin to destroy the bone around the teeth, this is called gum disease. Gum disease can be a slow, chronic disease, however it can also be more aggressive in nature and destroy the surrounding tissues of the teeth quite quickly. Eventually, gum disease can lead to tooth loss. With good oral hygiene levels and regular professional cleans, gum disease can be prevented or maintained. Smoking and diabetes can also be associated with gum disease, therefore, excellent oral hygiene habits are always a good idea to try to keep your teeth and gums as healthy as possible, despite whether you have other risk factors or not.

 
If you have any questions or concerns in regards to your mouth or oral health, feel free to give us a call on 08 9321 6928, we are always happy to help!