Welcome to TOOTH CENTRE, PORUR,CHENNAI
Afters months of pain and hardwork
our blog is finally up and running. please keep in touch to get latest updates,
news , discounts and specials at our practice
Dr Saradha Kanagasabai
Regular Dental Hygiene
Help keep an eye on your mouth to avoid emergency problems & privacy
procedures in the future.
Regular dental hygiene proves an effective way of keeping
yourself and your family worlds away from tooth decay and gum diseases.
At The
TOOTH CENTRE,PORUR, CHENNAI, our
patients are enrolled in a 3-6 monthly maintenance program where we see them
every 3-8 months for an examination, clean and scale, floss, fluoride treatment
and if necessary x-rays.
This way we ensure our patients have minimal plaque
levels and do not accumulate excessive tartar, which is difficult to remove
with everyday brushing and flossing.
Brushing
This is the single most important thing that you can do for your teeth and
gums. Brush twice daily in downward strokes for upper teeth and upward strokes
for lower teeth. Children can use circular motion.
Cleaning the
Teeth
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You cannot be taught to play tennis or golf by reading about them. You must be instructed, and you must practice. Similarly, you should learn the right way of brushing under the strict supervision of your dentist.
The tooth has five surfaces - front, back, the two sides and the chewing surface. Brush the top and bottom teeth separately. Most dentists agree that the bristle tips should be applied at 45 degrees to the gum area just above where the teeth emerge and should concentrate on the gum margins (where most people miss). The bristles are moved back and forth with a gentle circular scrubbing motion and short strokes. Do not forget the teeth right at the back of the mouth and also the inside surface of the teeth. Finally brush all the biting surfaces. It often takes three or four visits to teach someone to brush effectively!
Tips on Brushing
Do not wet your
brush before applying the paste or before starting to brush. It alters
the action of the bristles and prevents them removing plaque
effectively.
Everybody should brush twice a day once in the morning after breakfast and
in the night before going to bed.
Flossing
Dental Floss
Dental floss is nothing but a
special kind of silk of nylon thread.
This floss is passed into the
space between the teeth with a gentle to and fro sawing motion.The
floss is then gently worked up and down the tooth into the gum crevices.
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Many dental health educators assert that even the most careful
brushing does not remove all the harmful substances from the crevices
between the teeth, areas where even the bristles cannot reach to reach
such areas the use of dental floss is recommended.
The floss is purchased wound in a spool and is either waxed or unwaxed.
The waxed floss is easier to handle. Using floss is not easy and
children especially have difficulty with it. It takes a dedicated and
tireless parent to floss the children’s teeth every day. It is far
better to spend the effort on careful brushing.
Tips on using Floss
This is difficult. Your dentist must help you by seeing that you manipulate the floss correctly and safely. It is usually easier to handle the floss if a length of about twelve inches is tied in a circle. Do not be taken in by special gadgets, which promise to make flossing easier. None of these does anything except add problems. What must be done is to get the strand of floss between the teeth, then wrap it starting from the gum and ending at the biting surface. Do this sweeping motion tow or three times and then repeat with the adjoining tooth.
Tips on using Floss
This is difficult. Your dentist must help you by seeing that you manipulate the floss correctly and safely. It is usually easier to handle the floss if a length of about twelve inches is tied in a circle. Do not be taken in by special gadgets, which promise to make flossing easier. None of these does anything except add problems. What must be done is to get the strand of floss between the teeth, then wrap it starting from the gum and ending at the biting surface. Do this sweeping motion tow or three times and then repeat with the adjoining tooth.
As brushing removes plaque from the surfaces of teeth flossing helps to
maintain hygiene and remove plaque from in between the contact points of teeth.
If you find flossing difficult why not visit us and we shall teach you easy
ways to make it fun with newer techniques like flossetes
Mouthwash
There are over 20 different mouthwashes available in the supermarket today
and choosing the right one can sometimes be a bit of a hassle. A good way to
choose a mouthwash is use an everyday brand that has a antiplaque agent in it
along with some fluoride. Always remember that mouth rinses are only an adjunct
to brushing and flossing and by themselves cannot fulfil oral hygiene needs.
If you are concerned about a particular problem like bad breath or multiple
black spots or decay it is recommended you consult us before trying any
cosmetic mouthwashes.
Diet and Dental Health
Diet is intimately related to dental health. Here are some general
guidelines about food and dental hygiene.
- Avoid excessive sweets, sticky foods, and between meal snacks (after which you don't brush your teeth).
- Go for teeth-friendly snacks like fresh fruits, vegetables, cheese, and crackers.
- Minimize sweet drinks during and after meals.
- Do not let your baby sleep with a baby bottle with milk or sweet liquid in it (plain water is ok). Teach your child to drink from a cup as soon as he/she is able to do so.
- Both dental caries and periodontal disease are the result of bacterial action, in the plaque, which collects on the teeth and gums.
A chocolate candy bar of about 50 grams may contain the equivalent of ten teaspoons of sugar! A slice of two-layer chocolate cake may be the equivalent of fifteen teaspoons of sugar!
These sugars are not an essential part of a normal diet. Hence reducing the total intake, will not only benefit the teeth, but also the general health. However, it is the frequency of sugar intake, more than the total consumption, which is important in influencing tooth decay. It was shown that the acid formed on the tooth in seconds from sugar might take twenty minutes or more to disappear from the mouth. Thus, small sugary snacks every two or three hours throughout the day will keep the teeth bathed in a dangerous acid state.
If Children must have sweets, they should have them only once a day (preferably during meal time). But it is better to recommend sugar-free snacks.A good list would contain:
Fruits: Apples, Oranges, Pears, Bananas
Vegetables: Carrots, Celery, Tomatoes, Lettuce, Cucumber, also Nuts, Crisps,
Cheese (in cubes), Eggs, Milk, Yogurt.
In this way if we eliminate sugar, we reduce the formation of plaque by depriving the bacteria of the food, from which they form the acid.
The damage by erosion that, say, lemon juice can do to the enamel will have to be seen to be believed, So avoid frequent tooth contact with lemons, grapefruit, vinegar and other strongly acid substances.
The chemist’s shop may also be a source of danger to the teeth, many cough and throat sweets, lozenges, syrups, and elixirs are loaded with sugar, sometimes up to 50-60 percent. This is to make the product palatable.
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Why Cavities HappenI often get asked by patients – “What did I do wrong for cavities to happen in my mouth? I eat well , I brush my teeth everyday, I dont floss regularly but then who does? SO WHY ME?”Hmmm…. interesting observation, considering tooth decay or cavities cannot happen randomly like winning a lottery.Medical and dental science is very clear on cause and effect and dental caries is a multifactorial chronic disease that can be possibly exacerbated by initial poor tooth structure like hypocalcified enamel (either genetically or due to antibiotics early on in life etc.)For cavities to happen you need 3 things:- tooth substrate
- sugar and
- bacteria
Because this is a patient benefit blog I will try to stick to as simple explanations as possible…If you do not have teeth you can not get cavities (Take no.1 out of the equation)If you stop eating, there will not be any sugar (there is some sugar in some form in all foods we eat and this extends to drinks, slurpees, fizzy colas and sports drinks which are very acidic as well. (Take away no. 2 out of the equation).If you brush very well, you will keep your mouth free of bacteria to a certain extent and possibility of cavities is reduced.The combination of three above causes demineralisation in teeth which then cavitates to form a hole in the tooth. Early regular checkups with the dentist (possibly every 6 months+ periodic xrays) can detect small areas of decalcification and modern day medicine has provided us with remineralisation solutions that can reverse early lesions.So friends, the next time you a having that mid meal snack or gulp the fizzy cola … think twice !!!!!!!!
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