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Sparkling teeth offer a confidence boost and can even attract a mate. But what’s lurking behind that facade? When it comes to oral health, your gums are much more critical than a symmetrical smile or bright chompers. Without proper oral care, your gums are exposed to diseases such as periodontitis and more. And since there’s no pain, unlike a cavity, many people are left unaware of underlying issues.
So what can you do to prevent gum disease? Here’s a helpful guide on how to get healthy gums, pronto! With these tips, you can improve your overall oral hygiene, ensuring a healthy mouth, gums and even brighter teeth, too.
Perfect Your Brushing Routine
The American Dental Association (ADA) sets the standard for achieving good oral hygiene, which results in healthy gums. They not only set general guidelines on how often you should brush but also how you should brush your teeth for optimal health.
Their guidelines include the following recommendations:
- Brush twice a day, at least, and after every meal.
- Use a soft-bristled toothbrush, replacing it every three to four months or as bristles fray.
- Brush with fluoride toothpaste.
- Gently brush at a 45-degree angle to the gums, using short strokes.
- Brush the insides of the front teeth, turning the brush vertically.
- Scrub your tongue, too!
Brushing your teeth is vital for your gums. However, with advancements in toothbrushes, you can get an even cleaner mouth! One way is to use an electric-powered, sonic toothbrush. With sonic vibrations, electric toothbrushes offer a more efficient cleaning, reducing gingivitis and plaque more than manual types. Plus, GO SMILE’s electric toothbrushes have blue light technology, which offers many benefits such as killing bacteria. You can keep your gums clean anywhere you go with our Glow on the Go blue light device.
While people with unhealthy gums should avoid teeth whitening products until their mouth is in good shape, with proper brushing and the advancements of blue-light toothbrushes, you can improve your gums in no time! Discover GO SMILE’s blue light toothbrushes for cleaner, healthier gums.
SHOP OUR SELECTION OF WHITENING TOOTHBRUSHESUse Fluoride Toothpaste
With countless kinds of toothpaste to choose from, seek a fluoride toothpaste to get healthy gums. While baking soda whitening toothpaste aims for brighter teeth, fluoride will ensure a healthier smile. Look for an ADA seal of approval on the packaging of your fluoride toothpaste.
Even better than fluoride toothpaste is luxury toothpaste, which offers additional ingredients like vitamins. For instance, GO SMILE’s mint toothpaste gives your teeth a vitamin boost. With added ingredients and vitamins A, C and E, you can rest assured your teeth are getting the healthiest cleaning possible.
Don’t Forget to Floss – Daily!
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While flossing is easy for many people to forget, it’s a critical part of keeping your gums healthy. Flossing reaches areas between the teeth and gums where food and plaque hide. Left unattended, the food and plaque eventually lead to tartar, a hard bacteria buildup that can only be removed by your dentist. Ignore tartar even further and it can lead to gum disease. So, set a nightly reminder or do whatever it takes to remember to floss!
Rinse Wisely
Rinsing your mouth with water or mouthwash can offer many benefits. But it’s important to rinse at the appropriate time! For instance, it’s good practice to floss after a meal, but if you can’t find the time, a good swish and rinse of water can do the trick.
On the flip side, you want to avoid rinsing immediately after brushing. Ideally, you want the toothpaste’s fluoride to have time to set in and nourish your teeth. Instead of rinsing with water or mouthwash immediately after brushing, it’s better to allow the concentrated fluoride to take effect. Otherwise, the fluoride isn’t doing much good.
Rinse with a Therapeutic Mouthwash
Speaking of mouthwash, this wonderful rinsing product is great to add to your oral hygiene routine. However, to gain the most value for healthier gums, here are extra tips and advice.
First, the same rinsing advice above goes for mouthwash. Since many types of mouthwash contain fluoride, wait 30 minutes or so before eating or drinking. In fact, the best advice would be to use mouthwash at a different brushing period, like after lunch.
Furthermore, don’t just use a standard mouthwash. With cosmetic and therapeutic mouthwashes available, and since the goal is to achieve healthy gums and not white teeth, seek the latter. Therapeutic mouthwashes minimize the risk of gum disease, reduce plaque, prevent gingivitis and also the development of tartar. Unlike cosmetic mouthwashes that aim to give you a brighter smile, these over-the-counter versions are formulated to address oral health concerns.
Schedule Regular Checkups with Your Dentist
Of course, one of the best ways to get healthy gums is to schedule regular checkups with your dentist. While you can take your at-home cleaning routine up a notch, a professional cleaning has many benefits. For starters, your dentist can remove tartar buildup, as well as plaque in hard-to-reach areas of the mouth. But more importantly, your dentist can take a look inside to detect any signs of gum disease or gingivitis, like inflammation. And this early detection can help steer you back to proper oral hygiene and better overall health.
Stop Smoking
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We all understand that smoking is bad for our health. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention states explicitly that smoking can increase the risk of gum disease by weakening the immune system. When you stop smoking or stop using other tobacco-related products, your gums have a better chance of fighting off infections.
Get Healthier Gums Today!
With this guide, apply one or two tips to achieve not only healthier gums but a healthy lifestyle as well. From kicking the nicotine habit to brushing regularly, you can see fast results and improve your overall quality of life, too.
