Home Care - Brushing and Flossing


At Designing Smiles, a beautiful healthy smile that lasts a lifetime is our ultimate goal. We serve as a partner in your dental health. Your personal home care plays a vitally important

role in achieving that goal. In other words, it's very important what you do on a daily basis, such as brushing, flossing, and using rinses or interdental cleaners. To learn more about proper brushing and flossing techniques, read below.
 


Toothbrushing - Brush your teeth at least twice per day.  The most important time to brush is before going to bed because during the night, plaque bacteria can build up and cause cavities and gum disease.  

• To properly brush your teeth, place your toothbrush at a 45 degree angle to your gums 
• Brush the outside, inside and biting surfaces of your teeth.  Making sure that you are brushing every tooth, individually.
• You should brush for a minimum of two minutes.  It helps to have a timer or an electric toothbrush.  We recommend the Sonicare toothbrush or the Oral B Triumph with the timers.
• Use the tip of your toothbrush at an angle to brush the lower front teeth on the tongue side.
• Brush your tongue to remove bacteria, use a tongue scraper, to freshen your breath.

Flossing - Daily flossing is the best way to clean between your teeth.  Believe it or not, floss covers more of your tooth than your toothbrush!  That is, if you are properly wrapping the floss in a C-shape around your tooth and sliding it below the gum and wiping the side of your tooth between your tooth. Your toothbrush can only clean above the gum line, but dental floss gets below it, where the bacteria and plaque resides.

• Take 12-16 inches of dental floss and wrap it around your middle fingers, leaving about 2 inches of floss between the hands.
• Using your thumbs and forefingers to guide the floss, gently insert the floss between teeth, gliding it below the gum, gently.  You do not want to see-saw it, just glide it up and down the length of the tooth.
• If you can't reach your back teeth, there are floss holder, flossers like the hummingbird, and other dental aids that can help. 
• One of Dr. Hilton-Foley's favorite floss aid is called a Soft Picks by GUM.

                            

Rinsing - If you are not able to brush right away, rinse your mouth well.  Listerine, BreathRx and Crest ProHealth are all good mouthwashes that should be used daily at bedtime.  At Designing Smiles, Dr. Hilton-Foley will occasionally prescribe a prescription antibacterial rinse, take home fluoride treatments, and antiseptic rinses to help control periodontal disease and/or caries.


Tongue Cleaners - Tongue cleaners remove the debris and bacteria from the back of tongue which may cause bad breath.  They come in all different shapes and sizes.  See our web page on Halitosis for more information. 

Please call Designing Smiles if you would like to make an appointment or have questions.  Our dental office's phone number is 813-891-1212. 


                                                    
                                                           Designing Smiles
                                               Angela Hilton-Foley, DMD, FICOI
                                                             813-891-1212