Tips For Oral Care

Protect your lips.

We forget them too often especially in summer or when we do sports activities. Like the rest of the oral cavity, the lips require care and protection against external aggressions. And they are especially fragile. If you are going to be out in the sun for a long time in both summer and winter, use a lip balm to hydrate and protect your lips. This will be especially important if you live in a snowy area or if you travel for leisure to a snowy area.

3. Use a dental guard in sports activities.

It may be a bit annoying until you get used to it, but remember that a broken tooth is even more annoying.

Sports activities in which physical contact with other participants is maintained during the game are one of the main causes of dental injuries and fractures. Even individual sports such as cycling or water or snow sports pose a high risk to the integrity of our teeth. There are special mouthguards for these types of activities, they are very cheap and can avoid a very serious problem.

If you suffer from bruxism, it is likely that you tend to clench your teeth to exert yourself. If this is the case for you, wearing a shock splint when doing strenuous exercise can protect you from dental trauma.

4. Be careful with the temperature of the food

Try to avoid very hot foods as well as very cold foods even if you do not suffer from dental hypersensitivity.  The teeth and the oral cavity suffer from extreme food temperatures. An excessively hot soup can damage your tongue, gums, and esophagus and ice cream can exacerbate the sensitivity of your teeth.

5. Chew sugar-free gum.

Sugar-free chewing gums facilitate the production of saliva and this will help you avoid cavities by eliminating the bacteria that adhere between the teeth and balancing the pH of your mouth. Of course, consume it as long as you do not suffer from temporomandibular joint (TMJ) problems or orofacial muscle pain.

6. Brushing after meals, yes, but not immediately.

The pH of a solution is what determines whether it is acidic or alkaline. In the case of the oral cavity, the ideal pH is slightly alkaline and its measurement is around 7.4.

An acidic pH in our mouth causes the enamel of our teeth to demineralize and weaken, favoring the appearance of diseases such as cavities, the accumulation of supragingival calculus, and diseases such as periodontitis.

When we eat or drink something, the pH of the mouth decreases and it takes time to recover its alkaline pH. During this time, the acid attacks the dentin and if we brush our teeth at that time we will distribute all that acid throughout the mouth and rub it with the brush against the teeth.

It is one of the habits that fewer people know but it is extremely important that you do not brush your teeth immediately after eating. Wait at least thirty minutes before brushing your teeth after meals.

One way to speed up the pH rebalancing in your mouth after meals are to chew sugar-free gum or rinse your mouth with water. By doing this, you can brush your teeth before, as the water will wash away the acidic remains of food and the saliva produced by the gum will balance your pH sooner.