Aristotle once said, “We are what we repeatedly do.” Therefore, what we are is a direct result of the habits we do every day. Knowing this is of tantamount importance to making changes in your health, relationships, career, or anything else. When we know what we should do and are able to incorporate that into our subconscious mind, the decisions that we make automatically will ultimately lead to our benefit. We can use this fact to keep our teeth healthy and maintained in maximum capacity for as long as possible. We have already discussed in some other articles the benefits of teeth, such as the ability to process nutritious foods which lead to further health benefits.
The most important of these habits is the twice daily habit of brushing one’s teeth. Most diseases in the oral cavity are caused from microorganisms. These bacteria form colonies on the teeth and the only way to prevent these organism from causing disease states is to mechanically break up these biofilms by using something like a toothbrush. These colonies will quickly reform so that is why we need to disrupt them every 12 hours or so. Just 2-3 days of not brushing will lead to large numbers of harmful bacteria which cause disease to the teeth.
Brushing can only clean the areas of the tooth where the bristles will go, which leads to our next habit, flossing. Flossing allows us to disrupt the bacteria present in-between the teeth. The proper way to floss involves wrapping around the teeth and sliding the floss slightly beneath the gums to clean the entire surface of the tooth exposed to bacteria. By not cleaning underneath the gums, harmful bacteria that causes periodontal disease can multiply. This creates an inflammatory response in the body as your body tries to fight against the threat. This can cause bone loss and ultimately cause the tooth to be lost as this is our bodies only response to get rid of the harmful bacteria.
Regular dental cleanings are needed to thoroughly clean the pockets of the gums. This is the next most important habit for keeping the teeth for a lifetime and that is regular dental cleanings and checkups. For most people, every 6 months will suffice. Some people with low risk of cavities and periodontal disease can be fine once a year and others with chronic periodontal disease will need to go every 3 months. The reason why every 3 months is because that is the amount of time it takes for the harmful bacteria to recolonize the pockets after thorough debridement.
Just as important if not maybe even more important than the frequency of brushing and flossing is the diet and the frequency and quantity of sugar intake. Sugar in excess has been shown to cause many deleterious effects to both oral and systemic health. The World Health Organization has recommended that humans limit consumption of sugar to 50 grams or less, which is the equivalent of 12 teaspoons of sugar. This is the same amount of sugar in one can of Mountain Dew. It would be a good habit to drink water instead of sugar-filled soda. Another problem with soda is not only the sugar, but the acid in these beverages. Even diet sodas are very acidic and can cause harm to the teeth. Some fruits are acidic as well. A good habit is that anytime you eat or drink some acidic, follow up with a rinse of water to help balance the pH in your mouth. Your saliva has natural buffers to help neutralize the acids in the mouth. That is why dry mouth can be so devastating to the teeth and make acidic foods and drinks even more dangerous.
Often our teeth wear down from use. This can be caused from many things, such as an improper bite, but one of the most common causes is teeth grinding. This can occur during our sleep and sometimes we are not even aware of it. If you want to protect your teeth while you are unconscious, you should get in the habit of wearing a nightguard while you sleep. This way the teeth touch and wear down only the softer plastic and do not rub and wear down against each other. The problems of grinding can be made even worse by the effects of gastric reflux which cause acid to come up into the mouth while asleep. The combination of acid and grinding can cause wear at an exceedingly high rate. You should be treated by a medical doctor for reflux and be mindful of the effects of diet on your reflux.
I hope that by implementing these 5 habits you can change the destiny of your teeth. Much of these are in your control, it is just a matter of having the self-discipline to force yourself to do these until they become so ingrained in you that they are a part of who you are.