WITH hygiene at the forefront of everyone's mind, let's do some mouth myth busting so that we can keep our mouths super healthy at this time.
:: Myth buster one: “If I brush my teeth twice a day, I’m doing enough for my mouth.”
Sorry, nope: Toothbrushing alone is not enough to keep your teeth and gums healthy –your mouth needs an extra bit of oomph to kick it into the health zone. Ideally, we need to get in the spaces between teeth and around any crowns or bridges to dislodge the stuck food particles that mouth bacteria love to picnic on.
This means selecting your weapon of choice from the wide variety of tooth-cleaning products. Some people like the little brushes while others prefer the feeling of a wood or plastic stick between their teeth. For those that find these small cleaning implements too fiddly, you could try the water jets that blast away any lurking food remnants with power hose satisfaction.
:: Myth buster two: “My gums bleed when I clean them, so I must be doing some damage.”
This is an incredibly common misconception which stops people from cleaning. If your gums bleed then they are crying out to be cleaned twice as much; the bleeding is a sign of infection. Push on through and try an electric toothbrush to up the cleaning power ante and use your in-between tooth cleaners twice as much.
:: Myth buster three: “I’ve never had strong teeth so I clean them very gently to avoid them breaking.”
If you perceive your teeth to be weak, it’s more the reason to keep them clean and free from the soft white plaque by giving your cleaning a bit more welly. Leaving the plaque draped around your teeth by being too gentle just leads to more decay and gum disease which means more work at the dentist.
:: Myth buster four: “My teeth are loose so I don’t clean them in case I knock them out.” Opposite way around – the looser your teeth the more you need to brush and clean between. Loose teeth can tighten up with good home cleaning.
