Maintaining good oral hygiene is essential to keeping your teeth, gums and mouth healthy. It can help prevent a wide range of serious problems and the
need for expensive dental jobs, and therefore help you avoid the high costs of Birmingham dentistry. On top of this, a good standard of oral hygiene will ensure that your teeth
look and feel clean, and you will have fresh breath.

What Problems can Good Oral Hygiene help Prevent?

Nearly all dental problems can be related to plaque build up. Plaque is the bacteria that builds up on your teeth after every time you eat, and if it
builds up too far your teeth will look yellow. Simply brushing your teeth and flossing regularly will prevent big build ups of plaque, which can lead
to numerous problems such as cavities, gum disease and gingivitis. By maintaining good oral hygiene you can also prevent having bleeding gums and
tartar build up (the yellow or brown deposits on your teeth). If any of these problems become too serious, you may need complicated treatments such as
root canal treatment or tooth extraction.

How Can I Maintain Good Oral Hygiene?

Ask your dentist if you want some personal advice on your oral health. In the meantime, these general pointers should help:

• Brush your teeth at least twice a day, taking extra care before you go to bed.
• Use an antiseptic mouthwash after brushing/flossing to kill bacteria.
• Use a fluoride based toothpaste to strengthen your teeth (though only very small amounts of this should be given to infants).
• Floss regularly (you should expect some bleeding when flossing).
• Avoid foods which are bad for your teeth such as sweets, crisps and fizzy drinks. Eat food which is good for your teeth such as fruit and
  vegetables with a high water content, meat, fish and cheese.
• Have regular dental check ups and professional cleans.