Care for your Teeth

• How do I keep my gums healthy?

Maintaining oral hygiene is important for overall health of mouth and natural teeth. Good hygiene will help keep your fillings and artificial teeth including caps, bridges and implants longer, before they are advised change. Floss once daily and brush your teeth twice in a day with a reputed brand of toothpaste. However, refrain from using abrasive powders as they can be injurious to your gums and teeth. Make sure that you use a toothbrush with soft or super soft bristles and don’t forget to change your brush when bristles start rounding off or 3 months, whichever is earlier! Your doctor may have left large spaces around implants or under caps or bridges. This is deliberate, so that you can maintain hygiene easily. In such situations your doctor may recommend special brush that cleans such spaces efficiently. We very strongly recommend tongue scrapping once daily. This will substantially reduce bad odour from your mouth besides improving overall hygiene of the mouth. Visit your doctor for a professional check up as recommended.  

• Can I use a commercially available mouthwash regularly?

Mouthwashes may be available over-the-counter or may be prescribed by your dentist. The ones available over-the-counter have very limited use. We recommend their limited use as an adjuvant to your routine oral care regimen which includes at least brushing and flossing. Their use will make your mouth feel fresh and odour-free.

The prescribed mouth washes contain antiseptics, which help substantially in containing the infection of gums. They will be a part of the treatment regimen recommended for your gum problem. Its frequency and duration of use will be decided by your doctor. 

• I have heard about battery operated powered tooth brushes. Can I use them?

Powered brushes are available in different configurations. Brushes which have detachable heads can be used by more than one individual of the family. Those with rechargeable batteries will not have the problem of frequent battery change. They all have mechanism that makes the brush head oscillate in a predetermined path. This very efficiently cleans up teeth with minimum of effort. We strongly recommend them for mentally or physically challenged individuals. They are also useful for aged or those suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Individuals brushing their teeth as recommended and having healthy gums may refrain from switching to powered brush. Those who have gum disease of a long standing in spite of thorough brushing and flossing may be benefited by a change to power brush.  

• Why do I have to get my teeth cleaned every 6 months?

A sticky and tenacious film called plaque gathers around teeth. If this film is not cleaned periodically by brushing and flossing then it hardens and forms a deposit that cannot be removed with regular brushing. This is called tartar. Deposit of plaque and tartar harbors billions of bacteria and chemical toxins which are injurious to gums, tooth supporting structure and bone which anchors the teeth. If you don’t undergo professional cleaning of your teeth every 6 months, then this deposit around the neck of the teeth keeps growing. This will result in substantial deterioration of teeth supporting structures and will result in teeth becoming mobile and may eventually loose them due to inadequate support of healthy bone.