Gums are the foundations of your teeth which means it’s vital to keep them strong and healthy. If your gums aren’t healthy, this impacts your teeth and your overall oral health, which can domino into worsening health throughout your body. This is why it’s important to do what you can to strengthen your gums.
Gum disease starts off painless, meaning that you likely won’t notice you have it until it either worsens or until you go in for a dental cleaning. Luckily, it’s preventable, and there are a number of ways you can keep your gums strong and healthy. Here are some of the ways that you can strengthen your gums.
Flossing
Flossing is essential to strengthen your gums. Flossing removes the plaque and food that can get between and at the bases of your teeth. Plaque can harden into tartar which can damage both your teeth and your gums. This is why brushing daily is so important to keeping your gums strong.
If you floss your teeth and your gums bleed, this is a sign that they aren’t healthy. Healthy gums don’t bleed. Daily flossing can prevent this, and in some cases, reverse it, depending on just how unhealthy your gums are. It’s recommended that you floss your teeth at least once a day for best results.
Brush Your Teeth
Brushing your teeth twice a day is another vital way to strengthen your gums. This removes food and plaque that can get stuck between your teeth and your gums. Brushing your teeth removes build-up and prevents gum disease, as well as cavities and tooth decay.
You should brush for two minutes at a time, with 30 seconds spent on each quarter of your mouth. You also want to make sure to brush your tongue, as bacteria can get trapped on there, leading to further issues.
Battery-operated toothbrushes generally help strengthen your gums more so than a regular toothbrush, so you may consider using one of those. Toothbrushes or the heads of toothbrushes should be replaced every few months, in order to keep the bristles effective, as frayed bristles won’t clean your teeth as well.
Quit Tobacco
Tobacco creates more health issues than lung cancer and respiratory problems. It’s also terrible for your teeth and gums. Smoking can seriously damage your teeth and gums, resulting in oral health problems such as stained teeth, ulcers, and sensitive and bleeding gums. Quitting tobacco will certainly help strengthen your gums.
Tobacco can be incredibly addictive, so if you need help quitting, don’t be afraid to reach out. There are many programs aimed at helping smokers quit.
Maintain A Healthy Diet
If you want to strengthen your gums, another way to do that is through maintaining a healthy diet. Sugary and sticky foods and drinks can be quite detrimental to your gums and teeth, as they can stick to the teeth. The natural bacteria in your mouth can turn this into acid which can dissolve the enamel of your teeth, leading to cavities. Plus, this can result in further plaque.
Sugary and sticky foods and drinks can be fine in moderation and with proper oral hygiene, but you do want to ensure that they are had in moderation, not all the time.
Another very important part that a healthy diet plays in your gum health is that healthy foods and drinks can strengthen your gums. Apples, for example, can clean your teeth through removing plaque. Ginger is good for anti-inflammatory purposes and thus can help prevent gum disease. Foods and drinks with lots of calcium, like dairy products, can strengthen your bones and neutralize the acid in your mouth.
Regular Dental Cleanings
Because gum disease can often go unnoticed, this is but one of many reasons why regular six month dental cleanings are so important. Your dentist can both remove any tartar build-up that your flossing and brushing could not get and notice the warning signs of gum disease. Noticed early enough, gum disease is reversible. If it’s not, that makes treatment all the more important, to prevent loosening teeth and worsening oral and overall health.
Do You Want To Strengthen Your Gums?
Here at Avenues Dental, we know how vital gum health is to your overall oral and physical health. We want to help you strengthen your gums. If you want more advice on how to keep your gums healthy, or if you would like to schedule a dental cleaning, please contact us at Avenues Dental today!