It’s National Dental Hygiene Month!

This month Jacksonville dentist Dr. Alexander and his staff celebrate National Dental Hygiene Month as part of an annual reminder that daily oral hygiene practices are important for the health or your teeth and gums!

Maintaining a lifelong healthy smile depends largely on TWO things:

• Daily hygiene habits
• Routine preventive dental care

What are the keys to good daily oral hygiene habits?

Commitment: establishing a daily routine that is followed is the first step!
Tooth brushing: using a fluoride toothpaste, brush the teeth twice per day for 2 minutes with a soft bristled tooth brush, being sure to cover all surfaces of the teeth and brushing along the gum line.
Flossing: floss once a day between all the teeth to remove food particles and reduce plaque build up.
Rinse and/or chew sugar free gum after meals: rinsing the mouth with water and chewing sugar free gum after a meal can help to remove food particles and reduce the amount of bacteria left on oral surfaces that can lead to tooth decay.

Along with two preventive care visits per year with Dr. Alexander, these healthy habits can help patients to avoid complex dental problems that often require extensive- and expensive- restorative procedures to correct.

Modern dentistry has shown the correlation between oral health and overall physical health- what goes on in the mouth can affect our entire body! This means that allowing our oral health to decline can leave us at a greater risk of developing or exacerbating many overall health issues- especially cardiovascular disease. If you have concerns about your dental health, always discuss them during a visit- annual visits with Dr. Alexander and his staff are the perfect opportunity to catch a developing problem in the early stage.

Need some more tips or advice? Ask your dental hygienist at your next visit or check out 2x2min.org for some fun oral hygiene tips for kids.