Keeping your gums healthy is an absolute must if you want to keep your overall oral health in good condition. However, doing so can be difficult, especially if you have physical problems that limit your mobility or cause pain. If you struggle to floss normally, here are three ways you can improve the health of your gums without subjecting yourself to more pain.
Handle Flossers
Flossers with handles are nearly as good as traditional floss for getting your teeth clean and your gums healthy. The handle allows you to keep your hands and fingers out of your mouth, which may help to prevent you from hurting the joints in your hands.
When using a handle flosser, the one thing that's important to remember is that it's not enough to pass the floss between your teeth once and then stop. You need to pull the floss taut along the sides of your teeth and then go under your gums. This will remove the debris and bacteria that causes gum disease and plaque to develop. You may also want to floss near a water supply so you can rinse off the floss between teeth to prevent bacteria from being transferred.
Water Flossers
Water flossers are an excellent way of improving or maintaining your oral health. These tools blast away plaque, debris, and bacteria and are equally skilled at getting in between teeth where problems tend to happen.
While water flossers are helpful, you should consult with your dentist about whether they're enough for your particular oral hygiene needs. Some dentists feel that water flossers are an acceptable replacement for dental floss, while others don't. If your dentist doesn't think it's a suitable replacement, combine this tip with handle flossers to keep your oral health in tip-top condition.
Electric Toothbrush
Lastly, if you're using a manual toothbrush, consider upgrading to an electric. Electric toothbrushes help you to get more rotations per tooth, which keeps bacteria and plaque under control. This can also be useful if you're having difficulty moving your hand or arm around in order to brush in small circles, as dentists advise. You can move the toothbrush from side to side and let the brush do the hard part of moving the bristles in circles.
If your mobility or pain problems are holding you back from keeping your oral health in good shape, they don't have to. Contact services like Piotrowski Bradley T DDS MS d LLC to find out how your oral health is doing and to get additional tips on keeping your mouth healthy.
