Before Bed Dental Habits Can Make All the Difference
Do you feel like you’re always getting bad news from your dentist? Prone to cavities and/or gum inflammation? Your before bed dental habits can make a huge difference. It’s during the night that your teeth go the longest without any attention. It’s the condition they are left in throughout that long stretch that can either make the morning routine easy and quick, or it can make your first job of the day arduous and time consuming. Spending a little extra time at night and adding one simple step could make a significant difference in the long run.
Spoil Their Party
When you go to sleep with an extra clean mouth, you ruin the party plans of trouble making bacteria. In a way you are taking away their snack food and drinks, and you’re depriving the DJ of his music. The result is that fewer rowdy guests arrive. Instead of destroying the place, you’ll wake up with your mouth in pretty good shape. In addition, this condition allows for improvements in the mouth. Studies have proved that when your mouth is clean, especially at night, inflamed gums can heal, and enamel mineralization fortifies your teeth. When your saliva contains less bacteria, the calcium and phosphorus your teeth need is more accessible. As well, the acid that often causes teeth and gums harm, is not present in a clean mouth, and just doesn’t get invited to the party.
Your Morning Routine
Your morning routine is also important, but due to our schedules and lifestyles in Ontario, Canada, we are often more rushed during this time. If possible, try to brush after you eat breakfast instead of when you first wake. Plan your morning to brush 15min. after breakfast giving your saliva a chance to get started on the clean up. If you spend extra time at night the morning routine will be quicker anyway. Brush and floss with the goal to keep your mouth as clean as possible throughout a 24-hour period. If you have this in mind, then the choices you make regarding food may change as well. “If it’s sticky, be picky” one dentist says.
Fluoride and Hydroxyapatite
Believe it or not, the toothpaste you choose can make a difference. There are two types of toothpaste that can help strengthen your teeth’s enamel and prevent cavities. Both the Canadian Dental Association (CDA) and the American Dental Association (ADA) recommend toothpaste with fluoride. This is especially important if your city has removed it from your water supply. If you’re avoiding fluoride, an alternative you could try is HA toothpaste or toothpaste with hydroxyapatite.
Hydroxyapatite contains calcium, phosphate and hydroxyl, building blocks for dentin and enamel. Therefore, it helps strengthen and repair teeth as it provides the necessary ingredients to do so. Fluoride works to protect any present building blocks by making them less susceptible to harmful acids. Having both Fluoride and Hydroxyapatite together in a clean mouth provides better conditions for your teeth to absorb what they need and get hard.
A Small Change to Before Bed Dental Habits
Before bed you should brush for 2-3 minutes using a fortified toothpaste. Then floss your teeth as you usually do. Some also use a waterpik after flossing. But above and beyond all this, at the end, rinse again with a fortified mouthwash containing either fluoride or hydroxyapatite (or both). If you can’t find one, use a tiny bit of your toothpaste with water. That extra rinse will create a better environment for remineralization and the overall clean will help avoid inflammation in your gums. A win, win!
This small extra habit can allow you to benefit from an 8-hour, clean, regenerative environment every night while you sleep. Being conscious to making little lifestyle changes such as this, can turn regular bad news from your dentist into wide smiles about your dental health.
This article is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Accordingly, always seek the advice of your Dentist or other healthcare providers regarding a dental condition or treatment.
