Start the New Year Focusing on Dental Health

Let Tulsa Dental Center Help You With a New Smile for 2024

When closing out each year, most people reflect on what they could have done differently and what they need to do for the upcoming year. New Year’s resolutions are always full of hope and excitement, and most resolutions involve healthy eating, weight loss, financial security, and better relationships. However, most people ignore their dental care, and it should be a top priority for the new year.

You can’t just brush your teeth once a day and call it even. Dental care involves flossing daily, brushing twice as much, switching your toothbrush frequently, taking care of your gums, regular checkups, and a healthier lifestyle. 

Here are the things you can do to start the new year off right:

Brush Your Teeth More

A lot of people only brush their teeth in the morning after they shower and eat breakfast, but that’s not enough. Most dentists recommend that their patients brush at least twice a day, and some dentists want you to brush three times a day, once after each meal. This ensures that you are removing harmful food particles and bacteria after you eat.

Teaching your children the importance of proper brushing habits is crucial to their future dental health, and it’s now even easier to promote mouth care. Electric toothbrushes and water picks work hard to remove plaque build up and trapped food particles. Water Picks and floss picks can be used along with brushing. 

Floss on a Daily Basis 

Dentists are regularly preaching about flossing and how you should floss daily. However, their patients rarely listen. If you don’t floss daily, your dentist will encourage you to floss more – a lot more. 

Flossing removes food particles that have become lodged between teeth, and it can help prevent tooth decay and gum disease. For years, dental floss was a waxy string that was used between the teeth. Now, there are floss picks, water picks, and soft picks which are a lot less messy and easier to use than traditional floss. Most dentist offices still use traditional floss, but the newer versions of floss have become more popular. 

Healthier Eating Habits

Healthy living can lead to a healthier mouth. It’s pretty simple, but the hardest part is eating healthier foods and eliminating bad habits. Without question, eating fatty and acidic foods affects your physical appearance and these unhealthy foods are damaging your body, mind, and soul, but you are also damaging your teeth and gums. Soda, wine, coffee, and energy drinks can damage your teeth due to the acid in the drinks.

Sugary snacks like gummies and hard candy can also cause a lot of problems with your dental health, and these snacks can lead to tooth decay.   

Sugar-Free Gum is an Option

Chewing gum cannot replace the act of brushing, but choosing the correct type of sugar-free chewing gum can act as a toothbrush between meals. After a meal, chewing gum can help prevent tooth decay, but brushing your teeth is always more effective.

Plaque breaks down tooth enamel, and the food and drinks we consume produce harmful acids that slowly erode away at our teeth. Chewing gum stimulates extra saliva production which neutralizes plaque acids, helping to fight against tooth decay. 

Eliminate Bad Habits

Smoking or chewing tobacco are both very, very bad habits when it comes to oral care and can harm and stain your teeth. Eliminating bad habits should be a goal no matter the time of year, and you don’t have to wait until New Year’s Eve to start adopting healthier habits. Bad habits can lead to the deterioration of your teeth and gums, and eliminating these habits can help with better dental health. 

Smoking any form of tobacco can slowly harm your physical and dental health, and it can damage your teeth and gums, often causing oral cancers. Drinking coffee, chewing your fingernails, and using your teeth to open plastic packaging can cause damage to tooth enamel, and once the enamel is gone, it is gone. 

Don’t Forget to Smile

When you follow all of these steps you will find yourself smiling more which makes sense because you want to show off your hard work. Tulsa Dental Center can get your teeth to where they need to be and you won’t be able to stop smiling.  

Give Us A Call

To set up an appointment with Tulsa Dental Center, call us at (918) 446-6100 or email us at info@tulsadentalcenter.com or appointments@tulsadentalcenter.com.