The Importance of Dental Hygiene

You’ve probably heard about the importance of dental hygiene all of your life. Brush your teeth twice a day, don’t forget to floss, don’t drink sugary drinks after brushing your teeth, and probably many more rules that you do (or don’t) follow. Yet, we must reiterate that many of the rules listed above are there to save you thousands of dollars in dental procedures to fix the damage that bad habits have caused.

Regular Dentist Visits are Necessary

Even if you follow every dental role 100%, you should be getting dental checkups every 6 months. You aren’t equipped to check your mouth for all of the problems that are possible to occur. Going to a dentist to check out your mouth and do a professional cleaning will make sure that you don’t have any dental problems that you were missing.

Dental problems, like cavities and infections, can happen to anyone. No matter the problem, it is important for the issue to be seen and addressed as soon as possible. When you make sure to go to your regular dental checkups, any dental problems that you might have won’t be ignored for years but instead found out quickly. That way, your mouth will stay healthy for longer due to having problems discovered right away. Go to a general/family dentist, such as Gentle Dental Arts, to book your regular appointments so even if you take good care of your teeth, the dentist can take care of your teeth too.

Common Dental Problems that People Ignore

One of the biggest contributors to poor dental hygiene is people ignoring the problems that they have. According to the CDC, 46% of adults show signs of gum disease and about 26% of adults have untreated tooth decay. So many people will feel pain in their gums or teeth and yet, for different reasons, won’t go to the dentist to get their pain checked out. When you experience pain in your mouth, that is a very strong sign that something is wrong and that you need help to get the problem fixed.

There are also many cases of people ignoring cavities even though they can grow bigger the longer they are left untreated. Many end up losing entire teeth to decay from cavities and other dental problems. We highly recommend keeping up with dental hygiene and to go to the dentist whenever you feel that something with your mouth is wrong. It never hurts to get your teeth and gums checked out, especially when it can save you thousands of dollars in the future on smile makeovers and dental procedures.

Dental Hygiene is Preventative Dentistry

Preventative dentistry includes having regular dental checkups along with keeping up with the healthy habits you are supposed to have. Healthy dental habits include brushing your teeth twice a day, flossing around once a day, cleaning your tongue, refraining from super sugary snacks and drinks, refraining from smoking and drinking, and wearing a mouth guard if you grind your teeth at night.

That list may seem like a lot, but it works to keep your teeth healthy and strong. Brushing and flossing remove the germs and food from your teeth which protect against cavities and decay. Many forget that cleaning their tongue is also highly important for removing the bacteria in their mouth. High-sugar foods and drinks create germ-breeding environments. Smoking and drinking will stain your teeth and weaken them over time. Mouth guards prevent you from grinding your teeth away, these are only necessary if you have a grinding problem.

Earlier, we mentioned that even if you follow all the rules, you can still have problems. This is true, however, it’s a lot less likely to have dental problems if you keep up with proper dental hygiene. Keeping up with dental hygiene prevents problems from happening in the future. You may not experience 100% protection, but the problems you can have from not keeping up with hygiene are way worse than problems you may experience when you keep up with dental hygiene.

Bad Dental Hygiene is Costly

When you don’t keep up with your dental hygiene, not only will it cost you your smile, but it will also cost you your wallet. Dental procedures are not inexpensive. While many necessary dental procedures can be covered by dental insurance, cosmetic procedures are less likely to be covered.

Cosmetic procedures, or the procedures covered in smile makeovers, include teeth whitening, crowns, braces, dentures, dental implants, and more. Braces or crowns may be covered by insurance if they impact the health of the individual, but many of the other cosmetic procedures will require more out-of-pocket pay.

Cosmetic dental procedures can cost thousands of dollars and aren’t something that everyone can afford. That means that people either have to give up a lot of money to fix the problems caused by dental hygiene or they have to be left with damaged smiles as a result. By keeping up with dental hygiene, this dental future can be avoided. The time it takes to brush your teeth and the price of floss are much cheaper than the cost of replacing missing teeth or getting them professionally whitened.

Make Sure That You Have Your Next Checkup Scheduled

The importance of dental hygiene is to save you from having to spend a lot of money and being in a lot of pain in the future. No one wants to go through the painful and expensive process of getting problems fixed. Of course, if you already experience these dental problems, you can find a place to get a smile makeover so you can be more confident with your smile. Orem dentists at Gentle Dental Arts are there with new technology to make sure you can be happy with your smile. But don’t start your journey to a healthy smile there, start it in your bathroom with your toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss. Practicing healthy habits now will keep your dentist appointments to only twice a year instead of more often.