Importance of Oral Health
Understanding Oral Health Importance and Best Practices
At Signature Smiles Dentistry, our dental professionals are committed to guiding each patient in improving their at-home oral hygiene and overall oral health. We believe that prevention is critical to lowering the risk of painful, dangerous, and costly dental emergencies like cavities, infection, and gum disease. We take a proactive, personalized approach to oral health care and ensure our patients are able to make informed decisions about the services they need. A huge part of that is understanding oral health importance and best practices.
The Importance of Protecting Your Oral Health
Your oral health is directly connected to your overall health. Neglecting oral hygiene and routine dental visits can cause cavities, bad breath, and dental infections or abscesses. It can also increase your risk of systemic disease caused by uncontrolled plaque, tartar, bacteria, infection, and gum disease. Without a daily oral hygiene routine and bi-annual dental visits, you’re at a greater risk of:
- Cardiovascular disease
- Endocarditis
- Diabetes complications
- Cognitive decline
What Is Oral Health and Hygiene?
Oral health is the overall condition of your mouth, including your gums, palate, teeth, jawbone, and all hard and soft tissues in your mouth. Oral hygiene is a combination of preventive dentistry and a daily oral health care routine designed to protect your oral health and reduce the risk of infection, disease, and injury.
What Are the Most Important Aspects of Daily Oral Health Care?
Your dentist can assess your age, medical history, diet and lifestyle, and personal risk level to create a personalized oral hygiene routine. Following these targeted oral health best practices can lower your risk of oral, dental, and overall health issues:
- Brushing twice per day for two minutes each time to remove plaque and bacteria
- Using dental floss, a water flosser, or an interdental brush to remove food debris and plaque from between teeth
- Using a tongue scraper to remove bacteria from your tongue once or twice per day
- Using a fluoride mouth rinse to protect your teeth from enamel loss and dental cavities
- Drinking plenty of water and limiting your consumption of alcohol, sugary beverages, and caffeine
- Quitting smoking or using tobacco products
- Following a healthy diet
- Wearing a custom night guard or sports guard if recommended by your dentist
- Visiting the dentist every six months for a dental exam and professional teeth cleaning
Risks of Neglecting Oral Health and Hygiene
Neglecting your oral health and hygiene can have serious, lifelong consequences. Some of the biggest risks are:
- Toothaches and tooth sensitivity
- Tender, bleeding gums
- Chronic bad breath
- Dental cavities and tooth decay
- Dental infections and tooth abscesses
- Painful oral health conditions like gingivitis, gum disease, receding gums, and tooth loss
- The need for costly emergency dental care or restorative dental work like root canal therapy, tooth extraction, dental fillings and crowns, and tooth replacement
How Dental Professional Care Protects Oral and Overall Health
Your dentist will take the time to get to know you personally so they can design a proactive, preventive treatment plan to protect your oral and overall health. Professional dental care has a direct connection to your oral health, because your dentist and dental team will:
- Remove harmful plaque, tartar, and bacteria from your teeth and gums
- Reduce the risk of dental cavities, tooth decay, and gum disease
- Offer early detection of oral health issues
- Provide personalized guidance in home oral health care
- Ensure targeted, advanced treatment of oral and dental conditions
- Perform regular oral cancer screenings
- Provide emergency dental care to address pain and infection, and lower the risk of long-term issues
- Restore damaged, decayed, and lost teeth
How Oral Health Evolves as You Age
You will need a different level of general dental care as you age. Your biology, lifestyle, and environment will all play a changing role in the overall health of your teeth, gums, and jaw. As your body ages, changes in cellular renewal, bone density, and salivary gland function can increase the risk of oral and dental health problems. Medications you take can also increase the risk of bad breath, dental cavities, gum disease, and infection. It’s important to work closely with your dentist to regularly re-evaluate your health and needs to protect you from problems as you age. You may need more frequent dental visits and screenings, a more targeted oral hygiene routine at home, different oral healthcare products, a change in diet or lifestyle, or more proactive and preventive dental care.
Call Us for Personalized Oral Health Guidance
Signature Smiles Dentistry focuses on proactive, preventive oral health care for all ages and life stages. Our friendly, knowledgeable team of dental professionals provides specialized, tailored diagnostics and risk assessments so that we can create custom treatment programs and personalized guidance on home oral hygiene. We maintain detailed records for advanced tracking of overall health and treatment plans, as well as proactive health screenings and early intervention. We use advanced technology and treatment methods with high rates of efficacy to protect you and lower your risk of disease and decay. Call now, contact us online, or book an appointment online for a routine dental exam, preventive or general dental care, or emergency dental care.