Oral hygiene: crucial for your dental health
Proper oral hygiene and regular prophylaxis are crucial for preventing tooth decay and gum disease.
Why oral hygiene is important?
Oral hygiene and prophylaxis are fundamental pillars of modern dentistry.
Proper oral hygiene and regular prophylaxis can reduce or even completely cure tooth decay and gum disease at any age.
Combat bacteria in your mouth with effective oral hygiene.
Bacteria that remain in the mouth for an extended period form plaque. If it is not removed regularly, it calcifies over time and turns into tartar. Caries and periodontitis are diseases caused by bacteria found in dental plaque. During oral hygiene, tartar becomes visible through the use of light, microscopic magnification, and dryness. It can be easily removed, effectively stopping caries and gum inflammation permanently.
Regular oral hygiene sessions under the microscope: Prophylaxis from childhood through adulthood.
In our practice, we perform oral hygiene using a microscope without exception. Regular appointments with our prophylaxis specialists, from childhood through old age, are crucial for maintaining healthy teeth, gums, and periodontium.
Daily dental hygiene at home
The long-term success of many dental treatments relies on regular prophylaxis. It is therefore particularly important to take care of your teeth, interdental spaces and gums every day at home. Here you will find detailed instructions for your personal dental hygiene. This is the key to maintaining healthy gums for a lifetime.
Healthy gums seamlessly transition into healthy bone around the tooth after 1.5 mm (see Fig. 1). The roots of our teeth are attached to tooth retaining fibres around the root. These fibres act as shock absorbers for the teeth. A depth of more than 2 mm is considered a gum pocket. If you don’t take dental hygiene seriously, conditions such as gingivitis, periodontitis, gum recession, and bone loss become more likely. The root cause always lies in gum pockets.
On the page titled ‘How to Keep Your Smile Healthy’, I explain how gum pockets develop.
Gum Pockets: a breeding ground for harmful bacteria
Gum pockets act as a home for bacteria. They thrive and multiply in the warm, moist, and low-oxygen (anaerobic) environment. The deeper the gingival pockets (e.g., 6 mm as shown in Fig. 2), the more inviting this ‘home’ for bacteria becomes. With every bite and sip, the bacteria in your gum pockets are nourished.
The damage caused by these bacterial cultures is severe: the bone surrounding the teeth gradually deteriorates, eventually leading to tooth instability and wobbling. At that point, the only solution is tooth extraction, as the tooth must be removed.
Many of you are probably thinking this won’t happen to you. Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you. To help prevent gum pockets from forming, it’s important to clean your teeth daily with interdental brushes and visit your dentist once or twice a year for professional oral hygiene care. Only a few people are fortunate enough to have an immune system that can effectively keep anaerobic bacteria under control. Without prophylaxis, you may still be at risk for gum inflammation.
Diagnosing gum inflammation yourself
If nothing hurts and you think you don’t have any gum pockets yet, it’s still possible to have issues that aren’t immediately noticeable. A misconception. Gum and bone inflammation does not hurt. It’s something that comes gradually. So,
you can check for yourself if you have gingivitis: purchase interdental brushes in various sizes and use the largest brush that fits through the interdental space without the metal rubbing against your teeth. If your gums are bleeding after using interdental brushes, you’re likely one of the 99% of people who have inflammation of the gums and bone in the interdental spaces, often without realising it until now.
Oral hygiene at home: pay attention to interdental spaces!
On the cheek and tongue sides, the teeth are kept clean by you or your toothbrush, as long as you brush along the gum line with the toothbrush bristles. However, no toothbrush can clean the interdental space effectively, despite what TV ads might suggest. Interdental spaces can only be effectively cleaned with dental floss and/or an interdental brush. When used daily, dental floss helps prevent new tooth decay. The interdental brush cleans both the gums and the interdental space, effectively removing bacteria from these areas. The key is to use the largest brush that fits comfortably between your teeth without the wire rubbing against them. Compared to dental floss, the interdental brush not only helps prevent tooth decay but also reduces inflammation of the gums and bones, making it a superior choice.
If our oral hygiene expert determines during a prophylaxis session that a dental procedure is needed to address your gums and bone health, you will be informed right away. However, it cannot replace an initial consultation with the microscope dentists at our practice. You can then address the problem areas with your dentist.
We would be happy to provide you or your dentist with additional information.
