New Year Tips For Improving Your Oral Health

Some handy advice from our Swadlincote dental team for 2023

As Christmas approaches, most of you will probably be in full swing, making sure that all the presents are bought and the food is in ready for the big day. Hopefully, most of you will also be taking good care of your teeth and gums with your usual cleaning regime. As this is our last blog of the year, we thought that we would look into the future a little and offer some tips from the Alexandra Dental Care team for the new year. We hope that these will help you improve your oral health care in the year ahead, even if you think you currently do a good job anyway. As they say, there is always room for improvement!

Refresh your dental cleaning implements

You may have received an electric toothbrush for Christmas, and if you have, then you have already taken the first step. If you don’t receive one though, ask yourself whether it is time to treat yourself if you feel that your current one isn’t as efficient as it could be. Even if you are happy with your current device, make sure to replace the brush head approximately every three months. Worn bristles will not keep your teeth and gums as clean as they should be. The same applies if you still use a manual toothbrush.

You may wish to consider changing to an electric brush as most dentists now agree that these are better for your teeth, but if you are a dedicated manual brush user, make sure that you replace it every three months in a similar way.

Quit smoking

Hopefully, this advice will only apply to a small number of you, if any. If you smoke, one of the best things that you can do for your oral health is to quit. Oral cancers, gum disease and a higher risk of infection are just some of the risks if you continue to smoke. If you are an ex smoker that has slipped over Christmas and had the ‘odd cigarette’, make sure that you don’t let this become a regular thing and please seek help to maintain your ‘no smoking’ regime if you need to.

Dental floss

If there is one very easy thing that you can do to improve your oral health in 2023, it is to start using dental floss. It is likely that most of you don’t do this as it is thought that only around one in five people in the UK currently do. Floss is a great way to clean between your teeth, an area where bacteria and food can collect. Much tooth decay starts in  this area for this reason. If you think flossing is too difficult, take a look at some of the online tutorials or discuss this with our hygienist at your next appointment. It really is easy and takes just a few minutes each day; a good ‘trade off’ for cleaner and healthier teeth and gums.

Drink more water

Many of us drink too little water, often substituting it with fizzy drinks. Although these can taste nice, they are usually full of sugar but also contain high levels of acidity. This can damage the enamel on your teeth if you drink them too often, leading to overly sensitive teeth and tooth decay. Water on the other hand is freely available and will keep you hydrated, helping you to avoid the dry mouth which can be a contributory factor for gum disease. Water will also help to flush away some of the food particles that get trapped between the teeth, although you should still brush and floss of course.

Dental appointments

Once the new year is here, please take a look at your diary and make sure that you have an appointment to see the dentist. Whether you are from Burton, Swadlincote or Ashby, you should try to see one of our dentists for a checkup at least twice a year. We also strongly recommend that you see the hygienist on a similar basis as this will help to improve your overall oral health and help you to minimise the risk of gum disease.

We hope that these few tips will help you maintain a healthy mouth in the new year and beyond. Until then, from all of us here at Alexandra Dental Care, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

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