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10 Ways To A Healthy Mouth

1. Brush your teeth morning and night with a soft toothbrush, fluoridated toothpaste and a gentle technique. This keeps your teeth clean without damaging them and the surrounding gum tissue, and the fluoride strengthens and repairs tooth structure.
2. Floss your teeth once a day using string floss and a gentle technique. This cleans the hard to reach areas between the teeth to prevent tooth decay and damage to the gums.
3. Rinse your mouth vigorously for one minute with an antibacterial mouthwash that contains fluoride after brushing and flossing. Although it doesn’t do as much as the companies that make it claim, it does help reduce gum inflammation and adds protective fluoride to your teeth.
4. Chew sugar free chewing gum after lunch for a few minutes to cleanse the mouth of food particles and stimulate saliva flow. Remember chewing gum for too long can have the reverse effect and dry the mouth, as well as damage the teeth and jaw as the gum becomes very hard.
5. Drink plenty of water to keep your saliva flowing to wash away food particles, buffer damaging acids from the diet and repair tooth structure mineral loss. Water is the healthiest drink for your mouth so select water before other drinks or drink some water as well when you drink other drinks.
6. Reduce consumption of sugary and acidic foods and drinks. Sugar and acid allow bacteria to cause tooth decay and gum disease, while acid by itself can directly wear your teeth and gums.
7. Reduce consumption of tea and coffee. Tea and coffee will badly stain your teeth and they dehydrate you, minimising the protective effect of saliva.
8. Reduce consumption of alcohol. Alcohol delays tissue healing including the hard and soft tissue in your mouth, and it is associated with cancer, including oral cancers.
9. Stop smoking. Smoking is associated with gum disease and cancer, especially oral cancer.
10. Reduce your stress or find an effective way to manage it. Stress is the leading cause of damage to the teeth, jaw muscles and jaw joints through clenching and grinding of the teeth.  Stress also negatively effects your immune system and makes you more prone to oral infections.