How to keep your teeth healthy. Expert Tips: How to Keep Your Teeth Healthy

Today healthy teeth- This is not only a pleasant appearance, it is a sign of success, prosperity, well-being. You won't see wealthy and wealthy people, popular artists who have bad teeth. But is it always necessary to spend a lot of money to keep your teeth in perfect condition?

There are several tips that you can follow to achieve the desired result:

  • take care of your toothbrush. It needs to be changed at least once every two to three months, even if the price is low and the brush won’t have any “cool gadgets,” but the more often you change it, the better. If you brush your teeth with the same toothbrush for six months, the bacteria that multiply on it will multiply in your oral cavity.
  • When brushing your teeth, do not ignore your tongue and cheeks, because they also need cleansing. There is even a special scraper for these places; it costs a penny, but the effect is very good.
  • change your toothpaste. It is very good to change not only the brand (manufacturer), but also the type of paste. Today there are anti-inflammatory pastes, fluoride pastes, salt, enzyme, pastes that reduce tooth sensitivity, whitening, herbal and anti-caries. If you always use only one type of paste, the body will get used to it and there will not be the desired effect.
  • rinse your mouth and throat after every meal. It's good if you can rinse your mouth special means. Brush your teeth in the morning, after waking up, and in the evening, before going to bed.
  • don't ignore dental floss, it will help get rid of food debris in hard-to-reach places and save you from possible caries.
  • You can also use chewing gum, the main thing to remember is not to chew it for more than 10-15 minutes.
  • eat the right products– vegetables, fruits, teeth and gums need training, namely fresh vegetables and fruits can provide it. Calcium is essential for dental health and is found in dairy products. It is worth eating fish, spinach, and legumes. The quality of the water you drink is also important.
  • Minimize your consumption of carbonated drinks, they contain phosphoric acid, which corrodes the enamel. If you want to treat yourself as someone with white teeth, reduce your consumption of tea, coffee, berry juices and red wine, these drinks stain tooth enamel.
  • Visit your dentist at least once a year. Even if nothing bothers you, it’s worth visiting a dentist for prevention. On initial stages diseases of the teeth and oral cavity may not bother you, but the dentist will notice negative changes. And when the problem is clearly visible and you begin to suffer from pain, it may be too late to take action.

Following these simple tips will help you have healthy and beautiful teeth without much expense.

Many people are familiar with the problems first hand. teeth And gums. Hiking in dental clinic Sometimes they require great courage from a person. And this often happens, because many are accustomed to “pulling out the bagpipe” until the last moment, when even painkillers cannot relieve the pain. You can keep your teeth healthy and strong, and therefore beautiful, by following simple rules.

How to keep your teeth beautiful and healthy?

So, the health of gums and tooth enamel directly depends on hygiene procedures. Everyone is well aware of the recommendation of dentists - to brush your teeth every morning and evening. And for this it is important to have a suitable toothbrush . When you visit your dentist, ask which brush is best for you.

When choosing a toothbrush, pay attention to its degree of hardness. If you have thin enamel, then hard brush may damage it. If you are prone to tartar formation, a soft toothbrush will not be effective. Get rid of the habit of chewing gum. If you have at least one in your mouth, chewing gum is contraindicated for you.

Be careful with dental floss . If it is difficult to pass between your teeth, you should stop using it altogether. Also, when using dental floss, there is a high risk of gum injury.

Make it a rule to eat a piece after each meal. hard cheese. This must be done especially after eating an acidic product. Cheese has the ability to neutralize acid.

Enter in your daily ration hard fruits and vegetables. Eat a cucumber, green apple or carrot at least once a day. They will perfectly clean your teeth of plaque.

Don't forget to drink between meals water. It will wash away the remnants of food, coffee, tea and juices that can corrode tooth enamel.

If you cannot refuse, then at least drink them through straw to avoid contact of soda with tooth enamel. And, therefore, your teeth will suffer less from sweets.

Those who like to use whitening toothpastes should reduce their use to twice a week. Otherwise tooth enamel will be damaged.

Don't forget to clean your tongue of plaque. Do this with your toothbrush. Language - a favorite habitat for many harmful bacteria.

Even if your gums healthy, you need to use toothpaste from. For preventive purposes, you should brush your teeth with this paste for a month, once every six months. And if your gums are already bleeding, then rinse your mouth with a decoction of chamomile or sage (1 tablespoon per 1 glass of boiling water) twice a day.

Strong and well-groomed teeth are an indicator of the health of the whole organism as a whole. It is not for nothing that the Arabs claim that “death comes through the mouth,” and Galen, a famous ancient Roman scientist, said that the condition of the oral cavity determines a person’s health. If any diseases develop in the mouth or foci of infection form, the work is first disrupted gastrointestinal tract, and after this other systems and organs suffer. This is due to the fact that before entering the stomach, food is thoroughly crushed by the teeth. After tooth extraction or due to tooth disease, a person may have difficulty chewing normally. Accordingly, the load on the digestive system increases, which is forced to digest too much large pieces food.

If the teeth are healthy, then they exert a pressure of 120 kg/cm2 on the food being chewed. If the teeth are diseased, or if a person has incorrectly installed implants in the oral cavity, then this figure decreases to 10 kg/cm2. Therefore, you need to take care of your teeth carefully and, most importantly, systematically.

U different people teeth can differ quite greatly in their shape, structure and size. In each specific case, the primary condition of the teeth is determined by heredity. However, most people are born with healthy teeth. But not everyone can properly manage such a gift of nature, not taking proper care of it. Over time, under the influence bad habits and in case of non-compliance preventive measures for maintaining teeth good condition All kinds of dental diseases develop. And although they do not pose a direct threat to a person’s life, they can significantly undermine his health.

Scientists have long established a relationship between dental diseases and heart and vascular diseases, digestive system, anemia, leukemia, gynecological diseases, atherosclerosis, keratitis, arthritis, skin diseases, sleep disorders (in particular insomnia), neuroses, mental disorders etc. Diseases various organs also, in turn, can provoke the emergence of a focus of infection in the oral cavity.

Nutrition as a factor to keep teeth strong and healthy

The first thing you need to pay attention to in order to keep your teeth strong and healthy is your own diet. To keep teeth in good condition, it includes a sufficient amount of foods rich in vitamins C and D, as well as calcium, fluoride and phosphorus.

The main sources of calcium for humans are all kinds of dairy products, fish, legumes, nuts, seeds (sesame, almonds), as well as green vegetables (parsley, basil, savoy cabbage). Calcium bioavailability can be improved fermented milk products and animal proteins.

Phosphorus enters the body along with fish and other seafood.

People receive fluoride mainly from drinking water(V normal conditions 80% of the substance enters the body with water, and only 20% with food). Fluorine is found in large quantities in water from artesian wells or underground sources. Water taken from open sources cannot replenish daily requirement in fluoride, as well as fluoride-containing toothpastes. Overall, in food products fluoride is contained in very small quantities. The exceptions are green tea And sea ​​fish. It should also be remembered that excess of the substance also poses a health risk. In particular, it provokes the development of fluorosis, which is accompanied by loss of tooth tissue. Therefore, it is necessary to take fluoride preparations with great caution.

  • drinks containing phosphoric acid;
  • sweets;
  • food with high content starches.

The habit of snacking many times during the day also has a negative impact on your teeth. That's why daily ration must be balanced, and food must include substances necessary to maintain healthy teeth and the whole body in general.

Compliance with personal hygiene rules as a factor in keeping teeth strong and healthy

To maintain healthy teeth, they need to be brushed twice a day: in the morning after meals and in the evening before bed (this is due to the fact that at night protective properties saliva is reduced). The jaws must be open while cleaning. The procedure begins from the top row, with the brush held at an angle of 45 degrees to the surface of the tooth. In an area consisting of 2-3 teeth, approximately 10 cleaning movements are made in the direction from the base of the tooth to its cutting edge. Holding the brush perpendicular to the cutting edge, clean the back surface of the front teeth, then move on to the chewing surface of the molars. The lower row of teeth is cleaned in the same way. Finally, you need to massage your gums. To do this, closing the jaws, perform circular movements with the brush, while capturing both the teeth and gums.

In addition to the teeth, they also clean the cheeks and tongue, since enough large number microbes

Change your toothbrush at least once every two to three months. When choosing it, preference is given to soft brushes and medium-hard brushes with bristles made of artificial fibers (nylon). They are much more hygienic than brushes with natural bristles. Before starting the teeth cleaning procedure, wash your hands, rinse your mouth, and rinse your brush. These measures help reduce the risk of infection in oral cavity.

Toothpaste must be changed periodically, as teeth get used to the same composition of components and stop responding to their action.

After each meal, any remaining food should be removed using dental floss, and the throat should be gargled with water (this procedure is especially useful after eating sweet or sour foods). Helps remove soft plaque from teeth and absorb toxins chewing gum. However, you should not chew it for more than 15 minutes.

It is also recommended to use an irrigator for the oral cavity, using a water jet to remove food debris from the spaces between the teeth, as well as from the spaces between the teeth and gums. In addition, the jet irrigator allows for pulsating massage of the gums with a stream of water. As a result, blood circulation in them significantly improves.

Preventive examinations and timely dental treatment

Even healthy teeth need periodic examinations by a specialist. It is optimal to visit the dentist at least twice a year. During such a visit, the doctor can remove stone from the surface of the teeth, coat the teeth with a special protective composition, and whiten them.

Balanced nutrition, oral hygiene, prevention and treatment of dental diseases, as well as management healthy image life are the main components that allow you to old age maintain strong and healthy teeth.

Thanks to serious progress in the field of medicine, it is possible not only to treat teeth, but also to radically change them appearance V better side or even insert strong snow-white implants. Despite this, people try to maintain dental health, because some dental procedures have side effects and are expensive.

Prevention of occurrence dental diseases does not require much time and financial costs. Compliance with simple rules is one of the best ways maintaining dental health.

Nutrition

Poor nutrition has a negative impact not only on internal organs, but also teeth and gums. These products have a particularly bad effect on enamel:

  • sweets and sugary drinks;
  • roasted peanuts and seeds;
  • dried fruits;
  • coffee.

You can also add sour ones to the list. citrus fruit, but it is worth noting that, on the one hand, their acidity harms the enamel, and on the other, they provide vitamins and prevent the development of pathogenic microorganisms.

Important! Don't give up completely listed products. It is enough to consume them in smaller quantities.

Vitamins and minerals are substances necessary to maintain dental health. Doesn't have to be purchased at a pharmacy special complexes, you can limit yourself to improving your diet. Take into account the table with useful substances and the products in which they are contained.

Table. Useful elements/vitamins and substances they contain.

NameProducts

Plum, carrots, green peas, cabbage

Beef, pork, seafood, buckwheat, bananas

Sauerkraut, apples, black currants

Butter, herring, mackerel, eggs

Shrimps, bakery products, soy, peanuts

Raisins, dried apricots, liver

Cherries, grapes, onions, pineapples

Attention! Consume as much as possible clean water. It prevents dehydration, therefore, a sufficient amount of saliva is released to fight harmful microorganisms.

  1. Observe temperature regime food. Consumption of hot and ice-cold foods is bad for the enamel, increasing its sensitivity, and gums.
  2. Avoid foods that are too hard. Tooth enamel is easily damaged by consuming such products.
  3. Drink sugary drinks through a straw. Manipulation will reduce activity negative impact on enamel.
  4. Avoid strict diets. An unbalanced diet provokes the occurrence of dental diseases.
  5. Chew your food thoroughly. Absorbing food in this way improves blood circulation in the gums and reduces the risk of gum disease.

Oral Care Tools

To take care of your oral cavity, just stock up on the following:

  • brush;
  • paste;
  • rinse aid;
  • dental floss.

Choosing the right toothbrush - important condition. She should have stubble good quality, which does not fall out and does not have an unpleasant chemical smell. Regular manual brushes come with soft, medium and hard bristles. If the enamel and gums are sensitive, you should give preference to a soft one. In other cases, medium-hard bristles are suitable.

Attention! A manual brush with stiff bristles should only be used after your dentist's approval. The danger of using it is that it can gradually destroy tooth enamel.

In addition to manual brushes, you can purchase ionic, ultrasonic and electric. The first ones are suitable for sensitivity. The latter will be especially useful for those whose teeth are susceptible to tartar buildup. - an almost universal option. They should not be used only by people with weak enamel and gum disease.

The paste must also be selected according to the type of teeth and gums. For bleeding and weak gums, you need to use pastes with an antiseptic effect that contain extracts medicinal herbs And essential oils. To whiten enamel and remove tartar, bleaching agents with microgranules are required. - a universal option.

All mouthwashes have the same set of properties. They freshen breath, strengthen enamel and create a barrier against pathogens. If the line contains products with different effects, you need to take into account your type of teeth and gums when selecting.

Flossing is not necessary, but is advisable, especially if there are noticeable gaps between the teeth. It helps to gently remove stuck food.

Attention! You should not replace dental floss with toothpicks, as they can injure your gums and cause infection.

Principles of hygiene

You need to brush your teeth at least twice a day (before going to bed and after waking up). Manipulations will help avoid the development of pathogens in the oral cavity thanks to the antiseptic components contained in toothpastes. To consolidate the effect, use a rinse aid.

There are a number of rules that must be followed every time you brush your teeth.

  1. Pay attention this process at least two minutes.
  2. Make movements from the roots of the teeth, grabbing the gums. Movements in the opposite direction have a negative impact on the condition of the oral cavity, as food debris gets clogged under the gums and in the spaces between the teeth.
  3. Don't forget to brush your tongue. There is a special pad for this purpose. back side brushes.

Mouth guard for teeth protection

Important! Chlorinated water can also be considered a provocateur of dental diseases. It is necessary to rinse dishes thoroughly after use. detergents and use fluoride mouth rinses after swimming or drinking unfiltered water.

Dental procedures

You should visit your dentist's office at least once a year, even if there is no reason to worry. There is a risk group that includes people susceptible to disease teeth. They should be examined by a dentist as often as possible.

The group includes those who notice these body conditions and negative changes:

  • bad breath;
  • acquisition of crooked teeth;
  • susceptibility to respiratory diseases;
  • bleeding gums;
  • noticeable gaps between teeth;
  • gums receding from teeth;
  • pregnancy.

Attention! It is also necessary to visit the dentist frequently for periodic pain And high sensitivity enamels.

It's easier to prevent than to treat

Most dental diseases occur due to neglect of basic care rules. Therefore, taking into account all the recommendations of dentists - best prevention diseases. You need to follow the rules even after treatment or major dental restoration to prevent relapses.

Video - How to keep your teeth healthy

After reading these tips, you will say: we know most of them. The problem is that you not only need to know them, but also do them ALL.

1. Visit your dentist regularly

Perhaps, since childhood, you have hated the very thought of a dental chair, and it is easier to conquer North Pole than walking into a dentist's office. However, since those years when you wore bows or short pants, a lot has changed, and especially in dentistry. And the technology is completely different than before, and the pain relief is now at the level - you are unlikely to experience the old horror again. So it makes sense to overcome childhood fears.

How often should you see the dentist? Experience shows that it takes at least six months for dental problems to manifest themselves. Therefore, going to the dentist twice a year is what you need. Prevention and regular monitoring by a specialist will help eliminate problems in their infancy, saving a lot of money and nerves, including dental ones.

2. Brush your teeth regularly and correctly

What is this for? In order to get rid of bacterial plaque and food debris.

Bacteria are the cause of the vast majority of dental and gum diseases. More than twenty species pathogenic bacteria, living in the oral cavity - mainly streptococci and staphylococci - feed on food debris lingering in the mouth and secrete lactic acid, which corrodes tooth enamel. By the way, bad breath is also the “merit” of bacteria.

You should brush your teeth twice a day with a brush and toothpaste. The brush removes bacterial plaque deposited on the teeth and food debris, the paste kills bacteria and, neutralizing the acids they secrete, thereby strengthens the tooth enamel. One more thing, be sure to brush your teeth after eating. And not right away. The fact is that while eating, the enamel softens under the influence of acids; up to half an hour must pass before it comes into shape. normal condition. And immediately after finishing your meal, rinse your mouth thoroughly. boiled water. By the way, this should be done after EVERY meal.

Now about the cleaning itself. Simply waving the brush in your mouth will not be enough. It is necessary to carefully work on all surfaces of the teeth. Dentists have been arguing about which cleaning technique is the only correct one for many years. But, as everyone agrees, the movements of the brush should go from the base of the tooth to the cutting edge. Moreover, the cutting edge is cleaned at the very end. Optimal time brushing teeth - about two minutes of active movements. Excessive zeal is also bad, you can erase the enamel.

3. Choose the right brush and toothpaste

For what? To use them effectively and not harm yourself. A toothbrush must have artificial bristles with rounded ends, an atraumatic head, a comfortable handle, suitable for your hand and, most importantly, the stiffness of the bristles must correspond to the condition of the enamel and gums.

You also need to choose your toothpaste wisely. Here again, look at the condition of your teeth and gums, choosing for yourself what will be healthier. For example, if you have hypersensitivity, you should not use highly abrasive toothpastes, as you may harm yourself. The so-called “pastes for the whole family” will not bring harm, but they will also be of little benefit, since this is similar to the average temperature in the hospital, because the situation in the mouth is different for each person, and toothpaste Everyone should also have their own way of life.

4. Clean your entire mouth

Bacteria that destroy teeth live not only on teeth and gums, they are no less comfortable on the surfaces of the palate, cheeks, tonsils, and especially on the tongue.

Therefore, we clean everything we can get our hands on. But it is better not to use a toothbrush for this. There are special brushes for cleaning the tongue; a regular teaspoon will do. And here all kinds of rinses will help, including special elixirs that destroy bacteria and at the same time freshen breath. You can also try the miracle of modern technology - irrigators, devices for rinsing, rinsing or irrigating the oral cavity with strong, precisely directed streams of water.

5. Follow sanitary rules

Modern symbol living together men and women - two toothbrushes in one glass. Two, not one! Other people's bacteria are of no use to you at all, so never use someone else's brush - even someone very close to you. For the same reason, you should not eat with someone else’s spoon or drink from an unwashed mug. You need to be especially careful about the hygiene of children's mouths, because from birth they are free from bacteria that destroy teeth. Their children are brought in by their own parents. It is enough to lick the spoon after the child, and then put it in his mouth again. However, we also don’t need our own “native” pathogenic bacteria. Therefore, keep all items necessary for oral care clean and dry - in a humid environment, bacteria “extracted” from your mouth actively multiply. From time to time it would be good to dip the brush briefly in disinfectant solution, and once every 2-4 months generally change it to a new one.

6. Use floss

Most of us are as familiar with these simple devices as dental floss. If the teeth grow sufficiently evenly and densely, the spaces between the teeth and side surfaces teeth turn out to be inaccessible even for very “advanced” toothbrushes. Meanwhile, these secluded corners are very attractive to bacteria. Caries that develops at the point of contact of two teeth can only be seen by a dentist, and sometimes it is difficult to treat.

Meanwhile, flosses help to reach the most inaccessible protected areas between the teeth, removing food debris from there and depriving bacteria of a chance to survive. You need to floss before brushing. Also, use them after every meal. For use in public places flosset was invented - a compact and easy-to-use dental floss.

7. Use toothpicks carefully

It’s not always possible to floss or rinse your mouth after lunch, let alone fully brush your teeth. A toothpick will help. Fortunately, most restaurants and cafes have learned to include a package of sharp wooden sticks among the items that must be on the tables (salt - pepper - napkins). Wooden toothpicks are preferable - they protect the enamel - but you can also use plastic ones. But in order not to damage the periodontal tissue - the ligaments of the gums and teeth - the toothpick must be used very carefully and it is better to replace it with a flosset.

8. Protect your teeth from acids and sugar

Many things are detrimental to teeth, even what seems at first glance healthy food. Freshly squeezed fruit juices, for example, contain fruit acids that corrode enamel in concentrated form. What can we say about carbonated drinks! But there is nothing better for bacteria (and therefore worse for teeth) than sweet sucking candies - caramel, toffee, lollipops. When they stay in the mouth for a long time, it creates ideal conditions for the propagation of pathogenic microflora.

But chocolate is much less dangerous for teeth. Its basic ingredient - cocoa beans - contains substances that prevent the growth of bacteria. Therefore, the harmful effects of sugar, also included in chocolate, are neutralized by the action of these substances. True, dark chocolate made from natural cocoa beans is most beneficial for teeth.

Oddly enough, spicy foods are also good for teeth - they cause active salivation. Saliva washes the oral cavity, washing away food debris. In addition, saliva contains lysozymes - natural enzymes that destroy bacteria. Good for teeth and cheese. If you eat a piece of hard cheese after caramel, the effect of sugar will be neutralized.

In addition, cheese is a source of calcium, which is necessary for the entire body, including teeth.

Teeth darken from tea and coffee, and we are accustomed to considering these drinks harmful. But in fact, black tea perfectly strengthens tooth enamel and regulates acidity. alkaline balance in the mouth. And natural coffee, brewed from roasted beans, has antibacterial effect, destroying some microorganisms, including the main causative agent of caries - mutating streptococcus.

9. Eat right

There will be no strong teeth if the body lacks fluoride and calcium. Calcium is absorbed with the help of vitamin D, which comes from food or is synthesized by the body independently under the influence of ultraviolet radiation. Therefore, we take a pen and write down: veal, poultry, eggs, butter and sea fish are a source of vitamin D; yoghurts, cheeses, spinach and broccoli are a source of calcium; Black tea, wholemeal bread and fish contain fluoride. We include these products in our regular diet - and we can handle everything.

If there is still not enough calcium or fluoride in the body, we use dietary supplements and vitamin-mineral complexes. Fortunately, now their choice is especially rich.

10. Regulate the load on your teeth

Strong mechanical pressure destroys teeth, so forget about the Nutcracker's career. To crack nuts, there are special tongs, but your teeth have a different purpose. Even ordinary threads can cause tooth decay if you have the habit of constantly biting them with the same teeth, as some amateur dressmakers do.

The habit of clenching your teeth too hard, let alone grinding them, is dangerous: this leads to abrasion of the enamel. Sometimes this happens in a dream. But this case is not hopeless - there are special mouthguards that are put on the teeth before going to bed. They will protect. But the teeth and gums need feasible loads. Don't be afraid to chew raw vegetables, do not try to chop and grind food unnecessarily.