Dangers Of Not Flossing Your Teeth

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Tucson dentalFlossing is extremely important to your oral hygiene routine. Flossing is a way to remove plaque and food particles in places where a normal toothbrush cannot reach.  Normally this is under the gum line and between your teeth. For your dental health, it comes second only to brushing your teeth. Daily flossing complements tooth brushing.

While talking about oral health, one often comes across terms like plaque, tartar or calculus. Plaque is a thin removable layer of bacteria and sugars formed on teeth and gums. Plaque formation is a natural process as these bacteria are always present in our mouth.  Plaque formation automatically re-starts every 4-12 hours after brushing the teeth. Therefore brushing your teeth twice each day is very important for dental health.

As tooth brushing removes the plaque from the exposed easily approachable areas in mouth, flossing removes plaque layer from the hidden parts of the mouth like the gum line between the teeth. The acids from plaque can harm the enamel of the teeth and constant exposure can form cavities in teeth. If  plaque is not removed it starts to become hard transforming into tartar or calculus layer  after 48 hours This can lead to gingivitis or periodontitis.

One can floss teeth by taking a piece of floss about 18 inches long into your hand. Wind most of the floss around the middle finger of both hands and leave an inch or two of floss to work with. Now hold this floss tightly between your thumbs and index fingers and slide it gently up-and-down between your teeth. When you reach the base of the tooth with the floss make a C curve with the floss passing through your teeth in order to get rid of the entrapped food on your gum. You have to be very gentle when you touch the gums as this soft tissue is very soft and delicate and can easily bruise the gum tissue.

Your overall health depends on good oral hygiene.  Don’t get scolded by your dentist during your next dental check-up.  Brush and floss your teeth twice each day.

Has it been longer than 6 months since your last check-up?  Then isn’t it time to set an appointment with Dr. Riley…..call today 520-297-9069.

What Happens If You Don’t Have Regular Dental Checkups

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Regular visits to the dentists are not only important for a beautiful bright smile.   They are also extremely important to maintainbest tucson dentist your overall general health. People often ignore their oral health and hygiene but it is important to note that oral infections can be fatal if left untreated.

There are three things that are vital to dental and oral health: proper tooth brushing, regular flossing and regular dental checkups.

Off course, the regular daily cleaning of your teeth reduce the chances of getting oral diseases but this fact should not overshadow the importance of regular routine dental checkups. You may ask why? In answer to this question, two reasons can be mentioned.  The first is that regardless of maintaining good oral hygiene habits, there are factors like genetic disposition and daily habits like eating, drinking and smoking which may make one self more prone toward getting an oral disease.

Secondly, because of the mild and common symptoms marked by most of the oral
diseases, there is a high probability that the disorder can remain inconspicuous and undetectable for a long time. Signs like pain, bleeding, swollen gums, weak teeth, gum recession or appearance of incurable sores in your mouth are the signs of advanced oral diseases. Everyone will agree to this fact that early diagnosis and treatment of any disease would lead to better outcomes of the treatment.

Untreated gum disease can lead to some very serious problems such as heart disease, respiratory, kidney diseases, infections and loss of teeth and loss of bone mass. A dentist can: give suggestions on how to improve your daily care for your teeth, detect any suspected mass in your mouth which can be a sign of oral cancer, can help prevent
complications involved with inflammation and infections resulting from the gum diseases by removing plaque or tartar by scaling when needed.

Have you had a dental checkup within the last 6 months?  Within the last year?  Or has it been several years?  Don’t put your oral and overall health in jeopardy.  Call Dr. Riley today and schedule your dental checkup today – (520) 297-9069