| BRUSHING, THE CORRECT WAY |
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Correct brushing is essential for good oral health |
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Move the brush back and forth gently in short (tooth wide) strokes. |
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Place your toothbrush next to the teeth so that it rests on the gums forming a 45-degree angle against the gums. |  |
Move the toothbrush from the gums towards the edge of teeth to move the dental plaque away from the gum line. |
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After brushing, one by one tooth, all the outer teeth surfaces do the same for the inner surfaces |
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After brushing, one by one tooth, all the outer teeth surfaces do the same for the inner surfaces |
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Brush your tongue to remove bacteria and freshen your breath.
A correct brushing must have a duration of 2 to 3 minutes. |
| THE DENTAL FLOSS |
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The use of dental floss is essential in preventing gum disease. Toothbrush can't reach difficult areas as the interdental spaces. Using dental floss at least once a day provides effective removal of dental plaque and cleaning between the teeth. |
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| How to use dental floss |
1. Break off about 45-50 cm of floss and wind most of it
(~30 cm) around one of your middle fingers.
2. Wind the remaining floss around the same finger of the opposite hand. This finger
will take up the floss as it becomes dirty.
3. Hold the floss tightly between your thumbs and forefingers, leaving ~3cm of
floss between your hands.
4. Guide the floss to the space between your teeth using a gentle rubbing motion. Never snap
the floss into the gums to avoid injuries.
5. When the floss reaches the gum line, curve it into a C shape against one tooth.
Gently slide it into the space between the gum and the tooth.
6. Hold the floss tightly against the tooth. Gently rub the side of the tooth, moving the
floss away from the gum with up and down motions.
7. Repeat this method on the rest of your teeth. Don't forget the back side of your
last tooth.
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| NUTRITION HAZARDS |
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Our nutrition can play an important role in maintaining good oral health. A proper diet must be balanced and to include all the main food groups as : fruits and vegetables, milk products, meat, fish etc. |
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The dental plaque, the main enemy of your good oral health, is growing feeding itself from the sugar of your food.
The habit of consuming sweets is developed from the very first years of life. In most cases the parents are responsible for it because they give their kids foods with sugar to keep them happy and quiet.
Between meals give to your children fruits, vegetables or cheese instead of cakes or biscuits. They are both nutritious and safe for the teeth. Control the consumption of sugar.
If the kids are encouraged to this type of nutrition from small age they will reduce the sugar consumption for the rest of their life
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| HEALTHY NUTRITION |
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1. Avoid foods with high concentration of sugar (cakes, ice cream, honey...)
2. Prefer foods rich to nutritious ingredients but without sugar (milk, yoghurt, rice, meat, fish, fruits....)
3. Don't consider sweet only the foods with sweet taste. Check the concentration of sugar.
4. Don't forget that many refreshments have a high concentration of sugar.
5. You may consume sweets only at the main meals. Don't eat sweets between meals. (During meals the saliva production is increased neutralizing most of the acids. That's why a sweet during meal is less hazardous than one taken between the meals).
6. It is better to finish your meal with yellow cheese that helps neutralizing the acids in our mouth, especially after the consumption of sweet foods.
7. The foods structure is also important
- wet foods act for only a limited amount of time
- tough foods are the safest because they increase the saliva production and help to the self-cleaning of teeth
- soft and sticky foods are dangerous because they attach and get between the teeth providing a better environment for the bacteria.
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| HEALTHY FOODS |
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| Fish, Meat, Fresh milk, Fresh fruit juices, Yoghurt, Vegetables, Sugar substitutes, Nuts, Cheese, Fruits, Sugar free gums, Wheat bread
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| FOODS THAT MAY CAUSE TOOTH DECAY |
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| Sugar, Honey, Jam, Chocolate, Milk with sugar, Gums with sugar, Refreshments with sugar, White bread, Candies, Cake ,Ice cream, Biscuits
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| HOW TO CHOOSE A DENTIST |
What should I look for when choosing a dentist?
The best way to select a dentist is to get recommendations from people you know (family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, your family physician), or even your previous dentist. During your first visit, you should be able to determine if this is the right dentist for you.
Consider the following:
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- Is the appointment schedule convenient for you?
- Is the office easy to get to from your home or job?
- Does the office appear to be clean, neat and orderly?
- Ask the dentist about infection control procedures such as wearing gloves and masks, and sterilizing instruments.
- Was your medical and dental history recorded and placed in a permanent file?
- Does the dentist explain techniques that will help you prevent dental health problems? Is dental health instruction provided?
- Are special arrangements made for handling emergencies outside of office hours?
- Is information provided about fees and payment plans before treatment is scheduled?
- It’s a lot to find out, so feel free to take notes. The more you know the better the choice you’ll make.
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| ORAL HEALTH PROBLEMS |
- Most oral health problems are related to DENTAL PLAQUE.
- If plaque is not removed, it begins to harden and turn into a calcified mass that is known as TARTAR.
- Plaque is interacting with the foods we eat and produce acids that cause TOOTH DECAY (caries).
- When dental plaque grows it releases toxins that irritate the gums causing GINGIVITIS. If left untreated it may lead to more serious form of gum disease (PERIODONTITIS).
- Long term gingivitis can cause gum recession, which exposes the tooth roots making teeth suffer from HYPER-SENSITIVITY.
- Metabolic processes of plaque bacteria can produce organic compounds which are responsible for BAD BREATH (HALITOSIS).
- The teeth surface is susceptible to picking up stain from our diet (e.g. red wine and tea) and habits (e.g. smoking) which DISCOLOR the teeth.
- Problems related to the correct positioning of teeth are called ORTHODONTIC PROBLEMS.
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