Top Tips for Oral Hygiene

Caring for your smile doesn’t need to be difficult. In fact, our dentists in Clapham Common can help you with exactly that. With specialist care, top-of-the-rage treatments and expert advice, we can keep your smile shining – and you smiling. Find out all about our top tips for oral hygiene in today’s post.

So, why is oral hygiene so important?

As a dentist in Clapham Common, when we talk about poor oral hygiene, we typically focus on its impact: bad breath, gum disease, tooth loss, infection and tooth decay. It’s been found that some of these can also cause further problems – for instance, an infection in the mouth can spread and cause the serious condition, of sepsis (blood poisoning). Oral hygiene is important because, with great care, you can help to avoid some of these problems.

What are some top tips for oral hygiene?

We’d recommend the following:

• Brushing and flossing twice a day
• Cleaning your teeth for two minutes each time
• Encouraging children to get into good habits early, for example through sticker rewards
• Visiting your dentist as often as is recommended
• Cutting down on sugar in your diet, if possible
• Quitting or cutting down on smoking or vaping, if possible

Bear in mind that our Clapham Common dentists can help support and advise you on many aspects of your oral care routine.

How can I prioritise my oral hygiene?

You can start by establishing good habits, like cleaning your teeth at set times of the day so you won’t forget, and ensuring you’ve got all the right equipment – like a suitable toothbrush, toothpaste and mouthwash. You can also arrange a dentist’s visit, where you can have a professional scale and polish treatment.

Do children need to have good oral hygiene for baby teeth?

Absolutely. They need to get into a good routine early on, to make sure they take care of their adult teeth properly, too. Our Clapham Common dentists also point out that if a child loses a tooth too early due to hygiene-related decay, the new adult tooth may come through misaligned, and impact the child’s bite (how the teeth meet when the mouth is closed).

I’m worried about my teeth. What should I do?

We’d advise getting in touch with our Clapham Common dentists as soon as possible, so we can book you an appointment. Visit our website to find the details, and we’ll look forward to seeing you here in Clapham Common very soon.