Dr. Girish Guddathimmaiah

Maintaining good oral hygiene is very simple if you follow these basic tips and incorporate some healthy habits in your daily routine. A little care goes a long way in ensuring that your smile stays bright and your teeth stay strong. A healthy smile resides in a healthy body. Value your smile and follow these simple tips for your oral health.

• Going to the dentist at least twice a year is the best preventive measure that you can take to spot anything unusual going on in your mouth or jaws.
• Brushing twice daily with a fluoridated toothpaste is very important for healthy, cavity-free teeth. Don't aim to simply scrub your teeth, rather clean them gently using proper brushing technique.
• Many people don't consider Flossing to be essential for oral health but if you don't floss, you miss cleaning almost 35% of your tooth surfaces. If you're unaware of the technique, ask your dentist to demonstrate it for you.
• If you often find food particles getting stuck between your teeth, use an interdental brush or floss but Don't ever dig in using a toothpick. It leads to gum recession.
• Using a frayed, worn out toothbrush for your teeth is as good as not brushing at all. Make sure you change your toothbrush after every 3 months. Keep it at least 6ft away from the toilet area. Keep it dry as a wet toothbrush attracts bacterial growth and clean it ocasionally by washing it with warm water to get rid of the bacteria.
• The tongue plays an important role in reducing bad breath but it is often forgotten while brushing. Keep your tongue clean and scrape off all food debris using a tongue cleaner.
• Having a good diet is equally vital for your oral health as it is for your overall health. Include healthy, Vitamin C rich citrus fruits in your diet as they are highly beneficial for your gum health. Consume plenty of water and fluids to keep yourself hydrated. It also helps in reducing the incidence of mouth ulcers. Avoid taking excess of aerated drinks/soda.

For most people, a visit to the dentist is not a routine affair, it is mandated by tooth pain or bleeding gums. Surveys have been conducted to understand this, and at least 50% of the people have a fear of dentists.

Listed below are some common reasons cited by people as to why they fear a dentist:

1. General Anxiety: Unlike a regular doctor's set-up, the dental office with its various equipment and materials can be quite intimidating for anybody. This is one of the main reasons most people fear going to a dentist. Whether it is the big X-ray equipment or the drills used on the teeth, the person walking into the clinic has a general fear.

2. Fear of embarrassment and negligence: As mentioned, most people go to the dentist when a symptom sets in. Visiting a dentist and opening the mouth reveals the negligence of the person in terms of oral health, and this is an embarrassment for most people.

3.Tooth removal: A decade or so ago, for most decayed tooth, removal would be the only problem. In such cases, especially if the tooth was grossly decayed, it would be removed, sometimes with use of multiple instruments and in small pieces. The recent advancements have reduced the instances of tooth removal, however, this is a major reason for people to fear a dentist.

4. Injection: The thought of having an injection in the mouth is another big no-no for most people. There could also be the possibility of having a bad experience with an earlier dentist, where there might have been more than a prick to get the anesthetic effect.

5. Fear of pain: In this major set-up, most people are not sure which instrument might be used on them and they fear that this can cause additional pain to the tooth that is already in pain.

6. Fear of getting bad news: The dentist will diagnose the problem and reveal bad news about the problem. This might involve not just complicated treatment but also can be quite expensive.

7. Connecting to a bad experience: In some cases, the person could have had a previous bad experience and this might prevent them from going to any other dentist. The bad memory always comes to the fore and prevents the person from going through another bad experience.

8. The use of drill: Whether or not the person in the clinic requires drilling, the mere sound of it puts off some people from visiting a dentist. Opening the mouth and getting a tooth drilled is one of the biggest fears for most people.

Walk into a dentist with none of these fears and you will be relieved of your dental and oral problems.

If you wish to discuss about any specific dental problem, you can consult a specilized dentist and ask a free question.