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| scottsdalefamilydentistry.com |
The health of your mouth is directly related to the health of your overall body. The average human swallows a total of 6,000 times a day! What a mind-boggling fact, huh? Think about the mouth. It's earned the title of the dirtiest orfice of the body! There are millions of bacteria that are apart of the "normal flora" of the mouth and will not cause harm to you. However, there are many other bacteria called "opportunistic bacteria" that will see a chance to cause harm when the environment of your mouth presents a perfect ~opportunity~! Now put those two facts together. The mouth which has millions of bacteria in it and the fact that we are swallowing those bad bacteria many times throughout the day can present a problem to your entire body- a major organ being the heart. This is why I am so passionate about dental hygiene because it is all about educating people to PREVENT DISEASE!
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| greatoralhealth.com |
Periodontal Disease, otherwise known as Gum Disease is a a very sneaky disease since evidence of it does not appear in the form of pain like many other diseases or conditions. Most people think that nothing in their mouth is hurting, therefore there can't possibly be anything wrong. THINK AGAIN! Many people state "my gums bleed when I brush/floss my teeth, but that's how it's always been. I'm here to tell you that is NOT normal and that is called Gingivitis. If you break that word apart... "gingiva"-means the correct term for your gum tissue and "itis"-means an inflammation of. Therefore, if your gums bleed when brushing or flossing this is evidence of gingivitis, in other words, the beginning stage of Periodontal Disease.
The good thing, if there is a good thing, about Gingivitis is that it can be reversed! It would be ideal to not have Gingivitis in the first place, but we all have times in our life when we are more diligent with our brushing and flossing then other times, therefore we are bound to have a little Gingivitis here or there. This can be PREVENTED by brushing and flossing daily. Rinsing your mouth out after you brush and floss with an Antiseptic type mouth rinse will also help keep away the bad bacteria. But it is not just about the act of brush, floss, rinse, that will keep away Gingivitis... it's the effectiveness of your plaque removal that will keep your gums from becoming puffy, inflamed, and bleeding.
Plaque is a combination of food particles, bacteria, and water that form on the surface of your teeth throughout the day. In fact, within minutes of brushing your teeth and removing the bacteria biofilm or colonies of bacteria begin forming again on the tooth surface. As you can see it's a never ending battle that needs to be fought!!
When brushing your teeth it is important to make sure you are brushing with the bristles of the brush angled toward the gumline (the space where the gums meet the tooth). This space is where I constantly see my patients miss removing the plaque since most people brush their teeth with the bristles flat against the teeth. See the below picture for a demonstration of how to angle the tooth brush toward your gums for effective plaque removal.
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| glisci.com |
Flossing is a whole different topic. I will let you in on a secret... I don't like to floss! Yes, I said it! However, despite my dislike of flossing, I do it! It HAS to be done! When you floss, take a strand the length from of your hand to the crease near your elbow. Hold the floss with your thumb and middle finger on each hand. Begin wrapping each side of the floss around your middle fingers. Once you have a space about an inch between each middle finger you can begin your task with using your thumb and pointer fingers to maneuver the floss from in and out of the in between the teeth. When pushing the floss down in between the teeth you want to bend the floss making a C-shape around the side of each tooth and actually scrap the sides of the teeth to remove the plaque. This will take some practice and patience. If your gums bleed when you floss chances are, if it's just some Gingivitis going on and not a later stage of Periodontal Disease, it will take a normal schedule of flossing morning and night for a number of days for this to improve along with seeing your hygienist to have a dental cleaning if it has been some time since you have had one. See the below diagram for an illustration on how to floss.
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| albrightdental.net |
