Oral hygiene

In a oral hygine consultation the hygienist performs scaling followed by polishing and sometimes application of fluoride. It is taught the oral hygiene techniques appropriate to each patient.

Maintaining good oral hygiene is very important for the health of the mouth. Good oral hygiene corresponds to clean teeth without food debris and pink gums  that are healthy and do not bleed when brushing or using dental floss.



How to maintain a healthy mouth?
- Brush your teeth after meals with a fluoride toothpaste
- Use dental floss daily, or swab stick interdental
- Make healthy eating

 

Tooth brushing technique:

-You should choose a soft brush with preferably a small head it comes more easily to all areas of the mouth.
-Tilt the brush at a 45 degree angle against the gums to make horizontal movements, like see-saw or circular, with the brush from the gum line.
-Gently brush the outer, inner and chewing surfaces of teeth making short moves coming and going.
-Brush your tongue gently to remove bacteria and freshen your breath.

 

 

Technique using dental floss:

- Use about 45 inches of floss, leaving 3 or 4 inches of wire to work.
- Hold the stretched thread between your thumbs and index fingers and slide it gently up and down between your teeth.
- Gently, make a wire around the base of the tooth , making sure it goes below the gumline. Never make a sudden movement or force the floss because it can cut or hurt the gum tissue which is very delicate.
- Use clean sections of floss as it passes from one tooth to another.
- To remove the floss, use the same moves forward and backward, as the floss goes away from the tooth.

 

 

In cases where spaces between teeth are wide should be used an interdental  brush. The size of the brush should be tailored to each patient and should be used with  soft movements of coming and going.

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