Common mistakes we make with dental hygiene

My teeth is one of the banes of my existence. I have had braces twice already, and after spending collectively almost half of my lifetime wearing them, my teeth are once again misaligned :(

Dental hygiene is such an important part of our health and beauty routine - however many of us don’t pay enough attention to it. The pandemic also made dental visits a lot more challenging. It is crucial to keep put teeth clean throughout the years of our life to stop them becoming clogged with tartar and getting damaged.

Here are some of the biggest mistakes we make every day when using our teeth as well as trying to keep them clean. It is important to learn the proper method of dental hygiene to keep those pearly whites strong for longer.

Using teeth to open things

One of the biggest sins you can make when maintaining healthy teeth is to use them to open things. Whether you use your tooth as a bottle opener, to bite off clothing labels, or open packets of chips - this can damage your teeth and cause you to one day need invisible braces to repair and straighten. Keep your teeth for their given purpose - to eat food!

Not brushing for long enough

While many of us may think that 30 seconds is plenty of time to brush our teeth; this is really not the case. Our teeth come into contact with a lot of food and drink during the day that can build up and stain our gnashers. It is important for you to brush your teeth for at least 2 minutes to ensure that you deeply clean them and get rid of any dirt. One handy way to do it is put a timer on and split your mouth into 4 sections - giving 30 seconds to each. This will ensure your teeth get a deep clean and they stay white and strong. 

Brushing too hard

Brushing your teeth too hard is another common thing we do, and this can have some serious long term effects on your pearly whites. If you brush your teeth too hard this can disturb the enamel on your teeth and rub it off. Enamel is the protective layer on the surface of the teeth that also gives them a white colour - so by rubbing this off you’ll be making your teeth more vulnerable to damage as well as less likely to be white.

Forgetting to floss

Flossing is important, and not enough of us take this step seriously when maintaining a healthy mouth. Flossing will get to those bits of plaque, tartar, and food that your toothbrush can’t reach and clean them out of your teeth. Doing this will prevent the build up of infections around the area and can prevent gum disease as well as ulcers.

Leaving the tongue behind

When you brush your teeth every day there is one step you shouldn’t forget about - your tongue. Your tongue is made up of thousands of tastebuds and if you don’t brush your tongue food will remain lodged between your buds and can lead to bad breath and ulcers. Make sure to brush your tongue for 5-10 seconds at the end of your brushing cycle and this will keep it healthy and maintain your sense of taste.