I feel that my role as a dentist is to help my patients achieve good oral health and retain their teeth for life. The “doctor knows best” mentality that has been a cornerstone of medicine and dentistry for many centuries is not valid any more as families are becoming more informed about their health care and are able to choose the solutions they prefer. An important part of our oral health care is at home and starts with our diet.
Control what goes in your cart.
The best thing you can do for your family’s dental health is to bring home wholesome foods. Avoid processed foods and carbohydrates. Thankfully, over the past decade our culture has become more “carb conscious.” There are so many alternatives for healthy “snacks”, for example fresh fruits and vegetables. As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, bottled juice may have natural sugar, but that doesn’t mean it’s not doing damage to your teeth and fizzy drinks have acid added to them which makes them even more destructive.
Have your oral hygiene appliances handy.
Our patients love the clean feeling, at the end of their oral hygiene appointment and are happy to embark on a new road to better oral health. But sadly, when the floss or interdental brushes runs out, many of them will not go out and buy more. Please, please, buy extra toothpaste, toothbrushes, floss and interdental brushes and have them stocked in your home. The reason you stop, should not be, “I ran out of the brushes.” Everyone brushes with a different level of intensity, once your toothbrush shows the first sign of bent bristles, which, on average, is about every 3-4 months, there is the need to buy a new one. If you have had a history of gum disease, or space between your teeth, an interdental brush is an essential tool. For those in your family that have braces or fixed bridges, make sure you have plenty of the appliances they need, to clean out any trapped food and protect your investment.
Fluoride to fight decay.
It goes without saying that the healthiest thing you can drink is water. The question is where are you getting your water from? Our metropolitan water supply has fluoride in it, at the right level to fend off decay without causing damage to our health. But most bottled water is not fluoridated, which can be a real problem. If you have tank water, then you probably don’t have fluoride there too. Even if your water is fluoridated, there are some home water filtration systems that will actually remove the fluoride along with other minerals from your drinking water. Bottom line, supplementing your oral care routine with a once daily fluoride mouthwash is a great adjunct to the minimal amounts of fluoride you may be getting in your daily water supply. This added boost can go a long way toward strengthening your enamel and fighting off tooth decay.
Please don’t hesitate to contact Dr. Kaufman or to call today Tooronga Family Dentistry, phone number 98227006, for more information about, how to gain control of your oral health, avoid cavities or to have an examination to see if there are causes for concern.