Oral Health
A healthy mouth is more than just a bright smile. In fact, your oral health may be a lot more important than you realise. Your oral health is a gateway to your overall health and taking care of this can improve your appearance and even your life expectancy! There are several reasons why looking after your oral health should make it to the top section of your priorities list.
Reduce your risk of disease
Good oral care can help to prevent disease. For instance, periodontal disease (gum disease) may impact your gum tissues, but to add salt to the wound, it has also been linked to respiratory illness, heart disease, stroke, and more. This reason for this comes down to both the inflammatory nature of gum disease as well as the bacteria that enters our bloodstream from the mouth.
Gum disease is not the only disease that can wreak havoc, oral cancer is a possibility with devastating effects. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, the simple fact of the matter is that by maintaining your oral health with a proper dental hygiene routine and regular dental check-ups, you play a key role in helping to prevent a number of oral diseases.
Teeth for life
Dentist’s love to recite the phrase “only floss the teeth you want to keep.” Or “ignore your teeth and they will go away.” Your dentist is not simply rattling off catchy slogans, there is some truth to these popular phrases. While many people believe that losing teeth is an inevitable part of the ageing process, it is actually preventable. By following a good oral hygiene routine, a low sugar diet and adhering to regular dental check-ups, you can keep your teeth for a lifetime! Remember; teeth are not just there for aesthetic reasons and provide functional value too. Your teeth help you to adequately chew your food, thus maintaining a balanced and varied diet. Not only this, but teeth also help with speech. Research has shown those with 20 or more teeth by the age of 70 will live longer than those with fewer teeth.
Fresh breath
Fresh breath is unpleasant to anyone who finds themselves exposed to it. Whether you are politely trying to hold a conversation with a colleague with foul breath or it has been brought to your attention that your breath is less than rosy, this situation is uncomfortable for all who are involved. While you can offer your dragon-breath colleague a mint, you can improve the state of your own breath by taking good care of your oral health. There are a number of causes of halitosis (bad breath) with one of these being a growth of bacteria in the mouth. To keep bad breath causing bacteria at bay, be sure to brush your teeth at least twice a day and floss every night.
Save money
Taking care of your oral health is a matter of following a good oral hygiene routine and visiting your dentist for regular check-ups once every six months. This can be a huge help in preventing tooth decay, gum disease and tooth loss.
Supplies used in a good oral hygiene routine only cost a few dollars. The time spent to take sufficiently clean your teeth cost you a few minutes each day. Routine check ups with your dentist may cost you a total of two hours a year, and while a routine visit to the dentist may seem like an expensive luxury, think of it this way: Prevention is better (and cheaper) than cure.
Your routine check-up with your dentist works out a lot cheaper to the time and cost of possibly several dental appointments and restorative treatments that may be required should you suffer from any tooth decay or tooth loss due to neglecting your oral health.
Spending just a few minutes a day taking care of your oral hygiene and making time to visit your dentist twice a year can go a long way towards a long life of good oral health.
