The way you care for your teeth at home is vitally important to your overall dental health. You only visit the dental hygienist a few times per year to have your teeth professionally cleaned, so, the health of your teeth and gums depend predominantly on how well you take care of them the other 363 days of the year.
Here are 3 quick tips to help improve your dental routine:
1. Do your routine in the same order every time. If you like to brush, then floss, then swish with mouthwash, do every step in the same order every time. And do every step, every time. Morning and night. Do not skip any steps. This will help you remember to do all the steps.
2. Do your evening-routine home care steps before you get super tired. If you wait until you are so tired you can barely make it from the couch to your bed, you will likely not do all (if any) of your needed homecare steps. After dinner, or after your evening snack, immediately brush, floss (and use mouthwash if you like mouthwash), THEN watch tv, help the kids with homework, etc… No eating or drinking anything but water until the morning. Now, your teeth and gums are clean when you finally stumble to bed exhausted at the end of the evening.
3. Encourage your husband, wife, or significant other to adopt a similar homecare routine. You can help remind each other to keep your routine on track. Also, every habit is always easier to follow for a long period of time with support from family and friends.