Oral Hygiene Basics

At Bishop Family Dental, we help patients throughout Salt Lake City, Utah, to stay in excellent oral health. With a focus on preventative care, Dr. Daniel Bishop works to get to know each of our patients to help formulate a personalized plan for lifelong oral health. We only get one set of permanent adult teeth, so we must care for them and proactively take steps to prevent infections, cavities, and gum disease. Visit our 84124 dental office to have your teeth cleaned twice a year to remove plaque and tartar and keep your mouth clean and healthy. To schedule an appointment, call 801-274-2500. Between dental visits, do the following practices at home to keep your mouth healthy:/p> BRUSH YOUR TEETH PROPERLY

As a Salt Lake City dentist, we assert that brushing your teeth correctly is just as important as brushing your teeth often. Use a soft-bristled toothbrush so that your gums will not get irritated and your enamel will not get eroded. Many people mistakenly think that they need a hard-bristled toothbrush to keep their teeth clean, but this is not so. A soft-bristled toothbrush used correctly will clean teeth just as well without damaging them. Brush your teeth in circular motions, starting at the gum line going towards the center of each tooth. Brushing this way will push food particles, plaque, and bacteria from your gum line, if not completely away. Brush your teeth in sections, thoroughly brushing each section for at least 30 seconds. When you brush, apply even but moderate pressure. Use fluoride toothpaste to provide added protection from cavities. We recommend brushing three times a day, preferably after breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This will maintain the cleanliness of your mouth without irritating it because of overbrushing. Also, buy a new toothbrush every three months to replace your current one. But do replace your toothbrush if the bristles are frayed, stained, or smells bad.

At Bishop Family Dental, we remind our patients that it is critical to floss on a daily basis. If you live in the 84124 area and haven’t visited a dentist recently, we urge you to come to our office for a professional teeth cleaning and remove the bacteria-laden plaque from hard-to-reach areas. Afterwards, you will have to floss daily to clean off food particles and plaque from areas between your teeth. If plaque and food particles are not removed, you could develop gum disease which could cause discomfort and compromise both your oral and overall health. Gum disease results when you do not floss your teeth and plaque forms underneath the gum line. If you find flossing difficult or uncomfortable, use a plastic flossing tool that you can easily hold and then throw away after using. This tool makes flossing easier.

When using mouthwash, make sure that it is sugar free. We also recommend that you use mouthwash that has fluoride, which will help to kill any remaining bacteria as it strengthens your teeth. Carry a small bottle of mouthwash with you when you travel so you can rinse your mouth with it after meals, drinking a soda, coffee, etc. As a Salt Lake City, Utah, dentist office, we understand that brushing more than three times a day could be difficult. Rinsing your mouth, however, is comparatively easy and wouldn’t take much time. Doing this simple activity can reduce your risk of getting cavities and gum disease.

Dr. Daniel Bishop prevents tooth decay every day by helping our patients to have clean and healthy teeth. Tooth decay begins when plaque on the teeth and the acid it produces eats away at the enamel. Keeping teeth clean by removing plaque, therefore, prevents tooth decay. You can help do this by regularly brushing your teeth and flossing after meals. If you’re not at home and you do not have a toothbrush with you, you can use water to rinse your mouth. This will help to remove some of the loose food particles that may be in your mouth or to remove some of the sugar from your teeth. You should also eat healthy foods whose nutrients help keep the teeth strong.

At Bishop Family Dental, we are a family dentist office that uses fluoride on a regular basis. We recommend a once-a-year fluoride treatment for our patients who are under 18 years old. These treatments have been found to reduce by 30% the risk of getting cavities. Given that tooth decay is one of the main reasons children miss days from school, this finding is significant. Adults can also have improved protection against tooth decay by getting fluoride treatment. If you would like to find out if it is right for you, call 801-274-2500 to schedule an appointment. The treatment takes only a few minutes, with the fluoride being applied directly to the teeth. You won’t be able to smell the fluoride. After a few minutes of letting the fluoride settle on the teeth, patients are free to leave. A fluoride treatment is one of the easiest ways to protect your teeth against cavities.

Our Utah general dentist office gives each patient a toothbrush at their appointment. We recommend using it and, after three months, replace it. When buying a new toothbrush, look for one with soft bristles that will not irritate your gums or scrape your enamel. Or even better, buy a battery-operated electric toothbrush that can give you the best clean. The electric toothbrush’s brush head rotates on each tooth, helping to clean off more plaque for the cleanest possible teeth.

As a family dentist office, we recommend that you avoid drinking anything that contains a lot of sugar, such as soda, juice, and coffee. You should also strictly limit your consumption of candy, desserts, and particularly sour candy. Add acidic fruit to the list, because it is bad for your teeth. Foods that are high in sugar and starch are bad for your teeth because the bacteria on your teeth feed on sugar and starch. Similarly, eating highly acidic foods can erode your teeth’s enamel. At Bishop Family Dental, we recommend that you eat a diet high in green leafy vegetables, lean protein, dairy, and nuts since they can help to remineralize and strengthen your teeth.

For more tips on oral hygiene basics in Salt Lake City, Utah, call 801-274-2500 and schedule an appointment to speak with Dr. Daniel Bishop.