Creating a beautiful smile isn’t a matter of cosmetic dentistry. While cosmetic dental treatments can make significant changes to your teeth, there are daily steps you can take to make sure that your teeth are whiter, brighter, and more whole. By engaging in great dental health practices, you maintain healthy, beautiful teeth. Years of brushing and flossing (while they can seem tedious at the time!) add up to a lovely smile. This blog post mentions the dental problems and aesthetic concerns that strong oral hygiene and oral health prevent. Take inspiration from these problems to add some motivation to your oral hygiene regimen.

Strong Dental Health Prevents:

• Gum recession – Grinding your teeth at night has a number of negative impacts on your oral health, but it also causes receding gums. This changes the appearance of your smile and also increases tooth sensitivity. Seeing your dentist regularly will help you diagnose your bruxism and get help for the problem.
• Periodontal pockets – When your oral health suffers, your periodontal health follows. This can lead to your gums pulling away from your teeth, with periodontal pockets forming between the teeth and gums. These are unappealing and uncomfortable. Keeping your teeth plaque-free will prevent pockets from forming.
• Worn teeth / short teeth – Time and poor oral hygiene will allow your enamel to wear away and your teeth to become smaller and weaker. Using fluoride or receiving fluoride treatments from your dentist will help strenghten and build up your enamel layer.
• Stained teeth – As your enamel wears away, the yellow dentin below begins to show through. A lack of proper cleaning also allows staining compounds to pervade your porous enamel, darkening and discoloring your teeth. Brushing and receiving regular dental exams will help keep teeth white.
• Chipped or broken teeth – Use of teeth as tools, chronic teeth grinding, and excessive decay all lead to potentially broken or chipped teeth. Protect and preserve your teeth to keep them whole.

If you’re interested in learning more about appropriate oral hygiene, contact our dentist to learn about steps you can take to keep your teeth healthy.