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Decent dental hygiene, like scraping each side of the of the teeth while flossing instead of just passing floss between them
I learn how to correctly brush my teeth when I was 18. Went to the dentist ,first time by myself, had a lot of shit to fix. Dr looks me and said "show me how you brush your teeth", I perform and to my surprise I was doing it all wrong. Basically I was just cleaning the tips. Took me a long time to get everything fixed but from that point I had no real issues with my mouth.
Don't know who's to blame, me, my parents or the education system but I never felt so dumb in my life.
I wonder if I'm doing it all wrong as well...
Give us some tips man
My teeth are in pretty bad shape from lack of care when young and this is what I've learned and my experiences with trying to improve. I'm sure there's things that could be done differently/better but this is what I try to do.
It's important to be consistent and keep good habits which is still the hardest part for me.
When flossing work it down to the gums and back up in scraping motion against both sides of space between teeth. (See video at bottom) Rinse mouth.
I've also heard good things about water picks although I've never used one.
Brush your tongue. You can get metal scrapers or often tooth brushes will have ridges on the back of brush. Rinse mouth.
Use fluoride toothpaste. Toothpaste typically has a higher fluoride content than mouthwash. This is important as for best results you would not rinse your mouth after brushing for an hour to let fluoride do it's thing. Although mouthwash is still good to use I think for overall mouth freshness.
Use a very soft bristle toothbrush as you want to brush at a 45 degree angle in a circular motion From tip of tooth to up against gum line on both sides of teeth. Make sure to brush all the way to the backside of wisdom teeth area. Switch to new toothbrush every 3 months.
Be gentle against gums, I've heard good things about electric toothbrushes but also that aggressive brushing against gums can cause a receding gum line.
Avoid dry mouth. A sugar free gum helps me with this.
The most important time to have clean teeth is before bed.
Try not to let coffee/soda/sweets rest on your teeth for long, it's just staining and eating at your teeth. At the least rinse your mouth out with water if you can't brush right away.
This is a fun video showing the importance of flossing
Topic: Things you found out embarrassingly late in life (Read 3764 times)