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Sometimes all we want to know is how to keep ourselves in tip-top shape. This can be through diet, exercise, or regular wellness checks, but what can we be doing at home to make sure we’re keeping on top of our teeth and gum health especially when we start on our Invisalign St Albans journey. Well, we at UK Dental Specialists want all our patients to have the information they need for this. We’ve been chatting to our dentist to find out all the ways to protect oral health directly from them.
Oral hygiene
Oral hygiene is just a fancy way of saying keeping your teeth clean! How we brush our teeth is one of the most important parts of making sure we’re on top of our oral health. It’s the key to preventing a whole list of nasty oral health problems, including gum disease and decay, both of which are still the leading causes of tooth loss in the UK!
So how well do you clean your teeth? Take a look at the items below and see how many stages you’re sticking to and if there are areas you’re not including try and start to.
First up is the frequency of cleaning. Are you brushing at least twice a day? Once after breakfast and once just before bed? Along the same lines, are you using a suitable brush? Or are you still using the same one as last year with a tatty head? Is your brush the correct size for you?
Are you just brushing back and forth and not paying proper attention to how you’re brushing? Brushing your teeth correctly means using circular motions across the entire surface of the tooth. You should be paying particular attention to the gum line as this is where all the bugs and bacteria tend to accumulate.
As to keeping gaps in between teeth clean, let’s start with the very basic question of – do you floss? And if you do, how often? Because we should be flossing between all our teeth every day as it’s the only way to get down into the gum line and remove plaque build-up. A huge number of people still aren’t flossing as standard and this really isn’t good practice.
How to clean your Invisalign St Albans
Cleaning your Invisalign St Albans correctly is just as important as cleaning your teeth. You should be cleaning the aligners every day with a soft bristled brush and a colourless toothpaste. Gently brush along the full length of the aligners both inside and outside.
If you are able to, we at UK Dental Specialists highly recommend investing in a cleaning solution for your aligners. You can use a basic cleaning solution such as a denture cleaner or invest in something like Retainer Brite or the Invisalign cleaning crystals. All of these are great for giving your aligners back their nice clear, bright shine.
If you’d like to talk to us more about Invisalign then don’t hesitate to get in contact with the practice today, one of our team will be on hand to assist you in any way they can.