Our Hygienist, Alexis, Gives Some Home Oral Health Care Tips!

In your role as a hygienist, what are some home care tips you give to patients?

Some of the home care tips I give to my patients are that I recommend that you floss your teeth first before you brush- removing all the plaque from in between your teeth, and then you can brush everything away. Another tip: I recommend that every patient should change their toothbrush every three months, along with also changing your electric toothbrush head every three months. Also, another tip is to reach the insides of your front teeth. I recommend that you rotate the toothbrush vertically and brush each tooth individually. Brushing technique is very important. It’s important that you use a soft-bristled toothbrush.

It’s the technique that you use to clean your teeth with, not the medium and hard-bristled toothbrushes that are not getting your teeth cleaner. So, I recommend with a soft-bristle toothbrush that you place the bristles at an angle, a 45-degree angle where half the bristles are on the gums and half the bristles on the teeth. You’ll rotate the toothbrush in little circles, gently massaging the gums, and you concentrate on two teeth at a time and then move the toothbrush until you’ve reached every area of the mouth, including the insides of all your teeth. And also, you can finish up with brushing your tongue. Brushing your tongue will remove bacteria and stain. It’ll freshen your breath and overall, your whole mouth will be nice and clean.