7 Ways to Maintain Good Dental Health During the Pandemic

The Coronavirus pandemic is in full swing. Your dentist hasn’t seen a patient in months. As such, you’re starting to worry about your dental hygiene. 

Will the inability to see your dentist result in deterioration of your teeth and gums? Not if you have anything to say about it. As long as you maintain proper hygiene practices, your oral health should go untarnished. If you need a recommendation, seek oral solutions from the dentist in concord to get started on better oral hygiene practices.

Wondering what “proper hygiene practices” entails? Then read on. Here are 7 ways to maintain good dental health during the pandemic.

1. Brush!

First and foremost, you have to brush your teeth regularly. If you’re failing to brush your teeth, your dental hygiene is going to suffer. There are no exceptions to this rule. 

Generally speaking, it’s wise to brush one’s teeth at least twice a day; once in the morning and once before falling asleep at night. That said, if you can, you should brush your teeth after every meal as well. 

2. Floss!

Brushing twice a day is great. But it’s not enough. If you truly want to maintain great dental hygiene, you have to floss as well. 

Typically speaking, it’s wise to floss at least once a day. Your best bet is to do so before bedtime, as leaving bacteria between your teeth while you sleep could lead to rapid deterioration. 

3. Drink Water

Water is a vital part of human health. Not only is it necessary for aiding in hydration, but it’s also necessary for cleansing the teeth and gums of bacteria. As such, you should be drinking water regularly throughout each day. 

In total, you should consume 13 to 15 cups of water every day. However, for your teeth’s sake, you don’t want to consume all of this water at once. Ideally, you’ll consume water after each meal, as it can be helpful in whisking away any of the food particles that are stuck to the inside of your mouth. 

Keep a water bottle on hand at your work station. This will enable you to quickly and conveniently grab a drink as needed. 

4. Invest in a Teeth Grinding Mouthguard

Is the stress of the pandemic causing you to grind your teeth? Have you started to grind your teeth during sleep? If so, you might consider investing in retainers for teeth grinding. 

Such retainers will prevent your teeth from making contact with one another, allowing for reduced tooth recession as well as reduced jaw pain. You can find teeth grinding retainers online for only a few hundred dollars. 

Of course, you also have the option to get one from your dentist. But that won’t happen until you’re able to schedule appointments again. 

5. Keep the Sugars and Starches to a Minimum

It’s a stressful time. Eating junk food can help in regulating one’s emotions. That said, it can also lead to health problems, not the least of which are dental hygiene-related. 

As such, you’re advised to keep your consumption of sugars and starches to a minimum. A donut here and a fun-size bag of chips there won’t do too much damage. But if you’re downing an entire bag of Doritos in one sitting, your teeth are almost sure to experience increased decay. 

Want to play it really safe? Make sure to brush your teeth after every snack. The quicker you can remove those sugars and starches from your teeth, the less decay they’ll incur. 

6. Try to Lay Off Vices

Do you like to drink alcohol? Maybe you’re a smoker? Whatever the case may be, if you have harmful vices, you need to try to lay off them as much as possible, not just for your teeth’s sake but for the sake of your entire body. 

Alcohol is exceedingly bad for the teeth and gums, as it causes the mouth to become dry. The drier the mouth is, the more welcoming it becomes to bacteria. As such, drinking alcohol is a surefire way to cause tooth and gum decay. 

Cigarettes are bad for the teeth and gums as well, as they result in a lack of oxygen in the bloodstream. This lack of oxygen makes it more difficult for the gums to heal, leading to decay over time. 

There are, of course, a whole host of other health problems caused by cigarettes and alcohol, so, if you can, you should try to ditch both completely. But if you can’t, you should, at the very least, attempt to keep their use to a minimum. 

Oh, and if possible, brush your teeth directly after a drinking or smoking session. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to drink water either. 

7. Assess Your Medications

Do you take any medications? If so, they could be causing dryness of the mouth. What happens when your mouth becomes dry? It becomes a haven for bad, decay-causing bacteria. 

There are quite a few medications that do this. They run the gamut from antidepressants to antipsychotics to lung inhalers to antihistamines and more. Some are more severe than others in this department, though they all tend to cause the effect. 

Now, this isn’t to say that you should stop taking these medications. Odds are, they’re vital to your overall health. However, you might consider asking your doctor for alternatives. 

Every type of drug has an alternative of some kind. And while this alternative might not work for you, for the sake of your teeth and gums, it might be worth a try. 

Don’t Let Your Dental Health Slip

Your dental health is of utmost importance. And at a time like this, it wouldn’t be unusual for a person to start slipping on tooth and gum care. But you can’t let that happen; for your sake, you have to keep pushing on. 

Looking for similar tips? You can find them right here on our website. Check out our other articles right now!