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What You Can Do To Maintain A Healthy Mouth

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While many people know the importance of brushing and flossing, there is a bit more to it than that. Here are some things you should be doing to maintain a healthy mouth.

Brush For The Proper Amount Of Time

You likely do not realize just how long two minutes is when it comes to brushing your teeth, which is the proper amount of time you should be doing it. Get out a timer and actually time yourself as you do it to make sure that you are giving each portion of your mouth the proper amount of attention. Divide your mouth into four quadrants, and focus on each quadrant for 30 seconds each. This should be the ideal foundation for brushing your teeth properly, since just moving a brush around for a short amount of time isn't going to cut it. 

If you use an electric toothbrush, it will actually time out the entire brushing cycle. This includes beeping at the times when you should be switching quadrants and automatically shutting off after two minutes.

Overlap The Brush With The Gum Line

Many people are focused on the top chewing surface of their teeth since that is where they can see food particles in the pits of their molars. However, you should actually be paying attention to your gums as well, since that is where plaque tends to hide where you cannot see it. This is done by handling your toothbrush downward so it faces towards the pockets of the gum, and then overlapping the toothbrush slightly with the gums. This will clean out that plaque that collects in the gum pockets during the day. 

Drink Plenty Of Water

Water is not just good for the health of your body, but for the health of your teeth as well. That is because water is going to wash away the sugars that remain on your teeth after you eat or drink things during the day. By not drinking water, anything that you snack on is going to rest on your teeth all day long, which is not good for their overall health. 

Floss The Proper Way

Flossing is not just to dislodge food particles between your teeth. You actually want to floss using an up and down motion to get the plaque that is beneath the gums between each tooth. Make sure to work each pocket on each side of every tooth gap. If you just get the plaque that is on the sides of the teeth, you'll be missing all of the plaque that you cannot see. 

Talk to a dentist for more tooth care advice. 


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