Looking after your teeth, gums and mouth

 

It is important to look after your first teeth and permanent teeth. Keeping your teeth, gums and mouth clean and healthy can prevent disease and infection, and can help to avoid pain and sickness. Also a clean healthy mouth feels nice, looks good and keeps your breath fresh.

Your teeth need to be cleaned really well every day. This is because germs or bacteria in your mouth grow on your teeth and around the gums every day. It is called dental plaque and it makes acids that attack the teeth and gums and cause disease.

If you keep your teeth clean and healthy, you will avoid problems like tooth decay, toothache, bleeding gums, yellow teeth and bad breath.

Tips for a healthy mouth, teeth and gums:

• Clean your teeth well twice a day, after breakfast and last thing before you go to sleep at night. After a meal have a drink of water (this washes your teeth and mouth).
• Use a small toothbrush with soft bristles. Hard and medium bristled toothbrushes can damage teeth and gums.
• Use fluoride toothpaste. Spit it out when you have finished cleaning your teeth. Rinsing your mouth will wash out too much of the protective fluoride. ‘Spit, don’t rinse’.
• Gently and thoroughly brush each side of every tooth and the gums. It should take about 3 minutes to do them all.
• Avoid cleaning your teeth soon after drinking acid drinks such as orange juice. The acid in drinks softens the enamel, and cleaning can scratch the enamel while it is soft. Rinse your mouth with water, wait for about half an hour, then clean your teeth.
• Dental floss cleans between your teeth, but should only be used if you have been shown how to floss by the dentist.
• Once a week you can check your toothbrushing skills by rinsing with a liquid called Disclo-gel*. This is a pink liquid that stains the plaque pink and makes it easier to see. Disclo-gel* can be bought from a chemist. If your teeth are not totally clean, there will be a pink stain on a tooth. Brush that stain off and remember how you did it, so that you can add that to how you clean your teeth.
• Wash your hands after going to the toilet and before using your toothbrush.
• Don’t start smoking. It stains your teeth and can lead to disease in the mouth.