We all know that brushing your teeth and regular dental visits keep your teeth clean and shiny but did you know that it also improves your overall health? Poor oral hygiene has been proven to lead to many dental and medical conditions such as heart disease, strokes, gum disease, infection and diabetes.

None of us can escape from plaque, it’s made by our own mouths. Plaque consists of calcium deposits which build up over time. These deposits can appear the same color as your teeth. Sometimes these calcium deposits can get large and can break and if they do you might think you chipped your a tooth. Plaque also harbors bacteria that has been linked with the diseases listed above.

For this reason you need to get your teeth cleaned professionally twice a year. During your teeth cleaning visit our dental hygienist will remove the dental plaque and tartar. This prevents cavities, gum, and periodontal disease. These procedures are routine and rarely painful.

At home oral hygiene is very important too, for the same reasons listed above. At home the real war against bacteria occurs. By flossing and brushing daily your teeth you can prevent a lot of expensive bills from both the medical and dental offices. The average person brushes their teeth for 45 sec, if you can bump it up to 2 minutes you will eliminate 25% more bacteria. If you do not floss you are missing 40% of the tooth surface. Most Americans do not floss but we believe flossing is more important than brushing your teeth. Try your best to brush twice a day and floss at night.

A few quick for tips about flossing properly:

1. Start with about 18 inches of floss, wind most of the floss around each middle finger, leaving an inch or two of floss to work with.
2. Holding the floss tautly between your thumbs and index fingers, slide it gently up-and-down between your teeth.
3. Gently curve the floss around the base of each tooth making sure you go beneath the gum line. Never snap or force the floss, as this may cut or bruise delicate gum tissue.
4. Use clean sections of floss as you move from tooth to tooth.
5. To remove the floss, use the same back-and-forth motion to bring the floss up and away from the teeth.