We get it. In today’s hyper-connected world, being busy is a badge of honor. We are addicted to speed, searching for our next source of stimulation. We complain about not having any free time, yet spending hours on social media, craving that stupidly elusive and ephemeral hit of dopamine.
And while the internet provides so much access to information, sifting through the noise online to find the insights and gems we seek on a specific topic can be challenging sometimes.
So, here’s a brisk list of easy to apply steps each with a big ‘bargain at twice the price” to help fire up your oral health habits today!
1. Get to know your mouth
Do you know where is the biggest mole on your body is? Most people will struggle to tell you!
I must confess I do remember some of my patient’s fully detailed mouths; where their fillings are, teeth shape, cracks. Why? Because they are regular patients and my mind scans their mouth and saves those details like a plane’s black box 😀
I wish they would know their mouths more than I do. Nothing compares to looking in our own mouths and seeing where our gums are receding, where gums bleed when we floss, even the color of the coating on our tongues.
Seeing what’s going on in our mouths is pretty simple. It just takes a willingness to look. Even just a few seconds in the mirror can give us huge insights. Pause and observe.
2. Floss at least every other day
Clinical studies show that flossing lowers the risk of heart disease among many other problems associated with inflammation. Current research fairly conclusively points that bleeding gums may very well be a cause of inflammation in the whole body.
Flossing every other day has been shown to lower inflammatory markers.
3. Brush your teeth well twice a day
This is the “two minutes, twice a day” mantra, giving our teeth and gums the care they deserve.
When we choose to sit comfortably and care for our oral health, it’s a very different approach to brushing than the ‘scrub fast so we can get it done with it’ approach.
4. Stop using products that contain ingredients that take away from oral health
Perhaps this point with the first is the most challenging and the two I’m most proud to tackle in this post. Call this silly, but it seems to me that oral hygiene products should be made with 100% of the ingredients intentionally in the formula, to provide a strong beneficial function to help us navigate to greater oral health.
Let our own bodies decide how we want to nurture them. I invite you all to watch out for products with alcohol, foaming agents like SLS, Saccharine, glycerin, hydrated silica, artificial flavors, sweeteners, or colors. Any ingredient that doesn’t have a helpful reason to be in an oral hygiene product, may take away from our ability to optimize the health of our mouth and should be avoided.
- These are the mouthwashes that I do recommend for daily healthy gum and teeth care (note: if you suffer from a long-standing or severe gum disease, mouthwash advice may differ, please check with your dentist)
What did we leave off this list that you think should be here? What do you do to optimize your oral health? Please share with everyone in the comments below 🙂
Before bringing the curtain down…
I listened to a bird’s sweet song,
One balmy day in November;
The world is full of lovely things.
To me it seemed to say.But you must keep a happy heart,
By Mary C. Plummer
To find this always true.
For dark clouds cover sunlit skies,
And fade away the blue.
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