Good dental hygiene goes beyond dodging cavities while freshening your breath… your mouth is the gateway to your digestive system, and anything unkempt in it is going to end up inside you. For instance, plaque on your teeth can contribute to plaque in your arteries. And your good bacteria define you, so don’t let bad bacteria fester in your mouth and spread to your guts. And let’s not even talk about the man who had strep throat spread to his stomach, because although rare, it’s traumatic to think about at a time of year where strep and other germs are everywhere.
If you’re already following ADA recommendations and brushing and flossing as recommended, you can still make improvements. Here are some little things you might be doing right… or wrong.
Where would you think you are most likely to get a cavity? Your brain might go to molars, or squished together teeth, but most dentists will offer different anecdotal evidence: teeth with space between them. The problem comes from years of talking about how flossing is good for your gums, leading many people to do a quick “poking floss”. But the correct manner is a “c floss”, “hug floss”, or in plainer terms, scraping down the side of the tooth into the gums. Not cleaning the side well enough may leave a spot that your toothbrush is also missing, leading to later cavities.
As far as gums go, you may notice that there’s a trend to make sure toothbrushes are stimulating it. You don’t need to buy a gimmicky toothbrush with extra rubber, just make sure that you’re brushing along the gum line well enough that it doesn’t hurt (signs of inflammation like pain, redness, and swelling, are signs that you need to do more for your gums).
Finally, you can change how you use supplements to support your oral health, too. If you’re super prone to cavities, for instance, you may want to take advantage of probiotic supplements for digestive support rather than fermented foods, which can be sugary (and have bacteria make a pit stop in your mouth, some of which aren’t good for your mouth even if they benefit digestion!). Bypass your mouth and put probiotics straight into your stomach with a supplement like Flora MGR.
And if you’re taking colloidal silver, make it do more for you by swishing and swirling it in your mouth before swallowing. Let it directly support oral health before taking it as a supplement!
Share your tips or tricks with us in the comments:
