Get Your Spring Cleaning for World Oral Health Day

This time of year brings a lot of smiles at Lincoln Dental Associates. March has a lot of fun and excitement including St. Patrick’s Day, college basketball March Madness, and spring cleaning.

March 20th is the first day of Spring. Leading up to this day is a time of renewal, which for most of us is symbolized in cleaning out of the old and replacing it with something new. We clean our homes and give them new, fresh looks. We go out into our yards and plant our gardens while looking at the green grass, budding trees and flowers and chirping birds.

While we are cleaning out our closets and switching out drapery, linens, bedding and décor, why not also invest in sprucing up our smiles?

Coincidentally, March 20th is also World Oral Health Day. Since 2007, a day is set aside to educate the public about proper oral hygiene and the importance of a healthy mouth and we’re celebrating all spring long!

Each year, there is a different theme. This year’s theme is Say Ahh Think Mouth Think Health.

The 2018 World Oral Health Day, which is advocated worldwide and put on by the World Dental Federation (FDI), emphasizes the connection between the health of the mouth and the health of the rest of the body.

More and more research has been conducted concluding that how healthy or unhealthy one’s mouth has a correlation to their overall health and vice versa. For great overall health, one’s teeth and gums must also be healthy. One’s teeth and gums must be healthy for great overall health.

A healthy mouth, is more than giving you a beautiful smile.

As the sunny, cheerful days of spring replace the gloomy and cold days of winter,

How to Get That New Spring Smile

How do jump into spring with a new, refreshed, revitalized smile? Here are some basic places to start:

Practice excellent at home oral hygiene. A bulk of one’s oral care happens at home. Adequate at-home oral hygiene consists of:

• Brushing twice a day with fluoride toothpaste for two minutes each time
• Flossing at least one a day (be sure to floss both sides of each tooth and just below the gum line)
• Switch out your toothbrush every three months
• Use a soft to medium bristled toothbrush and brush the teeth and gums in a gentle circular motion
• Use a toothbrush or scraper to clean off the surface of your tongue

Visit the dentist regularly for a cleaning and check-up. Visiting the dentist every six months is equally important as at oral hygiene. While the dentist office may not be your favorite place to be, the trained, experienced eye of a dentist can spot dental health issues that you can easily overlook and administer important, prompt treatment to prevent the issue from getting worse. The cleaning done at the dental office is also more thorough than what the best at home cleaning can provide.

Watch what you eat. A diet high in foods and drinks packed with sugars, acids, and simple carbohydrates provide a catalyst for the formation of plaque. Food that is hard and sticky can also leave food particles and bacteria on the surfaces of teeth and in between teeth. With the more plaque, the higher the chance one has of getting cavities and/or gum disease.

Drink plenty of water. Over half of our bodies are made of water. We need water to survive. While the common drinks we enjoy have water in them, they also contain potentially high levels of sugars and chemicals that lead to the destruction of tooth enamel and weight gain.

Pure water has no sugar nor calories, making it great for rising the mouth out between meals and snacks. The water can wash away food particles when a toothbrush isn’t handy without adding more plaque-causing sugar.

Drinking water is also necessary for one’s overall health, including the proper functioning of organs, clearer skin, improved focus and cognitive abilities and bettering one’s mood.

Spring is a time of renewal. Some spring cleaning of your teeth and gums for World Oral Health Day now can lay the groundwork for many years of good oral, and overall health.

Whether you already have a good at home oral hygiene routine, or feel too embarrassed to go to the dentist, contacting us to schedule an appointment with us is an important step in transforming your smile for Spring.