Oral hygiene is crucial to maintaining overall health and wellbeing. As a care provider my office has seen too many times the disastrous consequence of Dental neglect.
We make it a matter of urgency to educate our patients about oral hygiene, the importance of brushing at least two times daily and flossing the same amount of times during the day.
The reason is very simple, every tooth has five surfaces all of which play a role during the mastication process ( chewing ).
The chewing surface, the surface close to the outside, the surface close to the tongue, the surface close to the tooth in front and the surface close to the tooth in the back.
The tooth brush can only get to three of these surfaces, and because to tooth brush cannot get to the surfaces between the teeth it becomes very important to floss those surfaces of the teeth in order to effectively clean your teeth.
Thorough effective brushing and flossing every day minimizes the risk of developing cavities and the resultant infections and tooth loss that follow. Crucial also to the success of your crown, fillings, implants, restorations, root canal, veneers.
Here is a really good video of how to effectively floss.
When a tooth becomes severely damaged due to neglect or inadequate home care, patients may have to undergo root canal procedures or dental extractions.
If further guidance is necessary please reach out to your Dental provider.