The most basic care for your oral health is brushing and flossing at least twice a day. Brush with a soft bristled toothbrush and fluoride toothpaste. Flossing before you brush means that the fluoride can reach more places between your teeth. Don’t forget to brush your tongue where food particles can still cling to. If you have any questions about what type of toothbrush to use or what brand of toothpaste is best, please consult your dentist in London. It’s a part of our job to help you practice good oral hygiene. Brushing and flossing alone are not enough. It is crucial that you visit your dentist for clean ups. If you have relatively good oral health, visiting your dentist twice a year should do. But if you are at risk of or already experiencing the symptoms of tooth decay or gum disease, you will need to visit the dentist much more frequently. If you are a smoker, diabetic, or pregnant, you should consult your dentist about how often you should come in for clean ups as your teeth are especially vulnerable. Your dentist will be able to clean any hardened plaque from your teeth that stains them yellow and only your dentist can detect early signs of dental disease. If you want to stop problems before they harm your oral health, be sure to follow these tips and consult your dentist.

In all honesty, how many of us in central London cases truly say we know how to floss correctly? Flossing has come from nowhere to become one of the most important elements in oral hygiene today. Normal brushing has been around for years, but for all our best efforts to do it properly, it fails to get right in amongst those places that hold onto foodstuffs and breed bacteria. Floss can- getting between the teeth and in and around the gums. If you take a look at what’s available, there is a heck of a lot of choices in the shops these days, from tapes to threads, to some holders that have the floss strung between two small prongs. It’s a matter of ‘try it and see’ to get the one that suits you and when you do, it’s then down to your technique and this may take a little while to master too. Try asking your dentist if you are unsure, but it’s basically down to working the floss gently between your teeth. This is done by wrapping a length between the middle fingers of each hand and then once it is between the teeth, you can use your thumbs and index finger to direct it around the teeth and into the gums. When you’re ready to move onto the next tooth, you simply use a fresh piece of floss and so on and so on. You may like to develop a system, top teeth first and then the bottom. But importantly, crack the technique and get into a daily routine (maybe whilst watching the television), and you will be giving your teeth the best chance in life to be with you until the end.

Children’s teeth need looking after just as much as the rest of them do. By bearing a few bits of simple but effective advice in mind you can help give your child the start in life that they deserve by keeping their teeth strong and healthy. Sometimes it’s not easy to get children to co-operate but it will be worth your efforts in the long run because any issues that affect a child’s teeth will be something they have to live with as they grow up.

Establishing a good relationship with your local London dentist when your child is at a young age is very important. This normalises the contact between them and your child will come to see it as a routine part of their life to go and see the dentist. It is also important so that any potential bothersome problems can be spotted early and dealt with effectively.

Your London dentist will be full of excellent advice about whether your child could benefit from dental sealants to help protect them from plaque and how best to get your children to take responsibility for their own brushing. Offering incentives can be effective here, but it needs to be established quickly that brushing and taking care of teeth is something that they will benefit from and need to practice diligently.

We only get one set of healthy teeth so don’t compromise the health of your children’s teeth. Make sure that they are eating the right foods at the right time and brushing with a fluoride tooth paste in the morning, at night and after the sugary snacks which should only be treats.

If you want to make sure that your mouth is healthy you ought to make regular appointments to see your dentist. These check ups involve professionals assessing your mouth for any problems with your teeth or gums. Early diagnosis means that any conditions you might have are far easier to treat and you can relax knowing that you have a nice smile and won’t have to worry about difficulties with eating, drinking or talking.

In conjunction with this it is very important that you are brushing your teeth for about three minutes, twice every day and flossing to clear debris from the parts of your mouth that your brush cannot reach. Nine out of ten people suffer from gum disease at some point in their lives so it is very important that your meet your dentist every six months. This can nip any problems in the bud early and lessen the chances of painful conditions and invasive procedures.

Even if you have not seen your dentist in a while there is no need to be embarrassed. Your City of London dentist will help you attain a life time of oral hygiene if you see him or her every six months for a dental check up. They are trained to thoroughly examine your mouth for diseases and problems affecting your teeth and gums as well as look out for signs of oral cancer.

Make an appointment today to see your City of London dentist for a dental check up that will put you at ease as to the state of health in your mouth.

Flossing your teeth may sound easy, but like most things in life there is a right and a wrong way to do it says a London dentist. First off, you will have to choose a type of flossing cord, there is waxed or plain, wide and narrow and even flavoured floss. It doesn`t really matter which type you choose to use, it is all in the wrist action, so to speak. The important thing to remember is that flossing will do a job that no brushing will do, and that is to loosen up food debris in between the teeth. If this debris is left unchecked then bacteria will multiply by feeding on it, and that leads to infections and tartar build up on the base of teeth. Tartar destroys the enamel on the teeth, and the result is the premature loss of the tooth. Flossing will go a long way to preventing all the above, but it is important to get the method right. Flossing is all about being sensible and thinking about the angle of the floss to eradicate the foreign material. Taking a length of floss of about half a metre, wrap the ends around the fingers next to the thumb. Then thread the floss around a tooth, now just work the thread up and down the sides of the tooth and angle it to make sure you get all the corners round the back. This will loosen the food particles, which then need to be taken out of mouth using a good mouth wash. Do this same routine for all your teeth, it may seem tedious at first, but it will save your teeth a lot of aggravation and infections if you floss. Be careful not to be too vigorous or you will tear the gum line, just take the initial flossing slowly and you`ll soon get the hang of it.

Making sure your teeth are clean and healthy is very important, but it is important never to forget how important it is to look after your gums. Gum disease is responsible for more tooth loss in the UK than tooth decay and gum disease has recently been established to be a major contributing factor to heart disease and even strokes.

Keeping your gums clean is a simple matter of removing plaque. Plaque is a filmy substance that sticks to teeth releasing acid which erodes tooth enamel causing decay. It also sticks to gums destroying tissue and causing infections we know as gum disease. Most gum disease is mild and can be treated with improved cleaning but if it becomes the more serious periodontitis it can require tissue removal and hospital treatment.

The gums can be cleaned easily by angling the toothbrush at a forty–five degree angle when brushing. This gently clears gums of plaque and food debris which cause disease. Flossing below the gum line also helps to remove bacteria and food trapped in small pockets between the gums and teeth.

It is also important to make regular visits to a Central London dentist who can examine teeth for the first signs of gum disease and carry out thorough cleaning. Don’t get caught out by gum disease, as it can be a painful and unpleasant experience and one that is easily avoided.

Brushing is the first line of defence against tooth decay and gum disease and if performed properly is an effective barrier against both. However, it would seem by the levels of decay still happening in the UK that many people are still not brushing their teeth correctly, or for long enough.

Bacteria in the mouth attach themselves to tooth enamel using their sticky outer membrane. If the bacteria are not removed by effective brushing they can build up forming a plaque acid. This acid erodes the protective enamel of the tooth causing cavities that lead to infection and eventually tooth loss. Brushing twice a day for three minutes with an appropriate brush and paste can remove plaque forming bacteria keeping your teeth clean and strong and your breath fresh.

Dentists recommend that you brush at a forty-five degree angle to the teeth pointing the brush towards the gums. This way the gums are also brushed clean from bacteria and debris, but it is important not to brush the gums too hard as gum tissue can be eroded. It is also important to floss your teeth at least once a day to remove bacteria and food debris from places a toothbrush can’t reach. Brushing without flossing is the equivalent of only cleaning two thirds of your teeth.

It is important to remember to change your toothbrush every six months as bristles become bent and flat and do not provide a thorough clean when overused. Central London dentists can advise you which is the most suitable brush for your teeth at your next appointment.

Few things are less attractive to members of the opposite sex than bad breath. It seems to signal a complete unawareness and total disregard for personal hygiene. Although, the fact is that we have probably all suffered from bad breath at one time or another. Many people think that bad breath is caused by internal digestion problems but this is only true in a fraction of cases. Over 95 per cent of cases of bad breath are caused by bacteria in the mouth and can easily be cured with better oral hygiene.

Bad breath is mostly caused by decaying food matter trapped between the teeth or in the grooves of the tongue. Because the spaces between the teeth are hard to clean with a regular brush, food can get lodged there. If this happens, bacteria begin to break down the food, releasing nasty smelling sulphurous compounds, which are carried out on our breath. The same process happens on the grooves of the tongue where it is too spongy to be cleaned effectively with a brush.

The way to deal with these problems is to remember to floss and use a specially designed tongue cleaner. Flossing reaches the parts of the teeth that normal brushes can’t. The wire goes in the tiny spaces between teeth to free up lodged food and remove plaque. A tongue cleaner or scraper removes some of the millions of bacteria that live on the moist, warm surface.

If you or a loved one suffer from bad breath, it is always a good idea to see a Central London dentist who can offer advice on more effective cleaning and isolate the exact source of the problem. There is no need to suffer in silence or live with the anxiety of bad breath any longer. By making a few simple changes and visiting a dentist you could have clean fresh breath all the time.

Having healthy teeth isn’t a gift, it isn’t a lucky thing either, it is a by-product of having a healthy attitude to oral care. That attitude is best taught when someone is a child; eating habits and dental hygiene are an important part of our education. We teach our children the rights and wrongs of life, so if we exclude dental care we aren’t doing our jobs properly as parents. There’s an old saying that goes “give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and you feed him for life”, what great wisdom there is in that saying. If we take the literacy of that and apply it to dental and oral care, we will be doing our children a great service. Not only will they have their teeth longer, but we won’t have to sit outside the dentist room so often, while they get treatment that could be avoided with a little common sense. Eating the right food isn’t only good for our diet, but it is also good for our teeth. When we eat food we chew it first, and in this process we produce saliva that helps us swallow and break down the food into energy. However, this process also produces bad bacteria that damage our teeth, often beyond repair. Teeth aren’t only just for childhood; they can be for life if we use a little common sense, and an early learnt routine of oral care. Oral care isn’t just about brushing, flossing and mouth washes, it is also about healthy eating and keeping bad bacteria to a minimum. Fish, fresh fruit and vegetables as well as sugarless drinks will help us to keep tooth decay to a minimum, as well as those expensive dental bills as adults.

The old adage that prevention is better than cure is nowhere more true than when it comes to your teeth. The most important weapons in the war against dental decay, gum disease and tooth loss is effective cleaning and regular six-month dental check ups.

Dentists recommend that patients brush their teeth twice a day for three minutes using an appropriate brush and the correct toothpaste for their teeth. Brushing helps to remove plaque, which is a filmy substance that builds up around the tooth enamel. Plaque is made up of bacteria and other debris that attacks enamel, eventually breaking it down and causing cavities. If a dentist does not repair these cavities they will penetrate to the root of the tooth causing pain and eventual tooth loss. Plaque can be removed by normal brushing but if it is not it will turn into tartar which cannot and will require a dental hygienist to remove it.

It is also very important to floss everyday. Flossing cleans the spaces in between the teeth that cannot be cleaned by regular brushing, where plaque can build up undisturbed. Flossing also cleans below the gum line, another hard spot to reach with a regular toothbrush. Brushing and flossing are the front line defence against dental problems and should prevent most dental disease. However, brushing and flossing alone are not sufficient to prevent all dental concerns. It is crucial that patients visit their dentist every six-months so that they can check for the first signs of any problems. Even the most ardent of brushers may still be susceptible to tooth decay and catching it early really can save a lot of pain and financial burden in the future.

Dentists are also trained to examine patients for the signs of other oral concerns such as cancer. Oral cancer is a particularly virulent form of the disease but has an 80 per cent survival rate if caught sufficiently early. A City of London dentist will examine for the signs of oral cancer as part of a regular check up and can take a swab of any suspicious looking material.

Maintaining a good standard of oral hygiene could save you a lifetime of costly and painful dental problems. Most dental issues are easily remedied at early stages but treatment becomes more and more difficult the more advanced the problem. A few minutes spent brushing and flossing each day, combined with a twenty minute check up every six months from a City of London dentist could be all it takes to keep your teeth and gums healthy for life.