You spend all day making sure your teeth are in great shape, that you brush and floss regularly and that you stay away from sugary treats (at least most of the time), but what can you do to make sure your teeth stay healthy while you’re asleep?
There are three musts for making sure your teeth are ready for bed: brushing, flossing and rinsing with mouthwash. It’s also extremely important that you don’t eat anything afterwards. When you sleep, your mouth produces less saliva than when you’re awake, so the food particles stay on your teeth and gums longer, and the longer food particles stay on your teeth, the more likely the bacteria is going to start building up and causing tooth decay.
When you brush, make sure you’re doing a thorough job, too. It should happen at least twice a day with a soft-bristled brush, and each brushing session should last at least two minutes. The best way to make sure you make the two minutes is to get a timer, or an electric toothbrush with a built-in timer, and while you’re at it, make sure you get those back teeth.
While the order is not extremely important, flossing is just as crucial to getting rid of bacteria as brushing. Flossing gets all the plaque that you can’t remove with a toothbrush, and flossing at least once a day will help prevent gum disease.
Once you’ve done that, it’s time to rinse. Again, as long as you do all three of these, the order isn’t important, but most people prefer to brush, floss and then rinse afterwards. Use the amount that the manufacturer recommends and swish it around for 30-60 seconds. Then, gargle (either with the same rinse or with fresh rinse) for 30-60 seconds to get the bacteria in the back of your mouth.
Following these steps every night will keep your teeth fresh and clean while you sleep, and for the tartar that these methods don’t remove, be sure to visit your Phoenix dentist at least twice a year.
