Feeling self conscious about your teeth and smile can be a hit to your confidence. Thankfully, there are many things that can be done, like changing your daily habits, to improve and prevent further damage and wear on teeth, gums, and lips. The following are some adjustments to make for better tooth and mouth care.

Visit the Dentist Regularly 

Even with solid brushing and flossing routines, everyone needs regular, extra professional cleaning procedures to remove tartar build up, plaque, diagnose diseases, and ascertain if work needs to be done on cavities or any other damage to the teeth and gums.

The hygienist and dentist can also make recommendations for orthodontics or cosmetic procedures if you’re unhappy with the state of your smile. A trusted office like Dentistryon7th.ca has several dental care and cosmetic experts on their team who can handle appointments for implants, veneers, lingual braces, Botox, teeth whitening, and others.

Change Your Snacking

Carb-packed snacks like chips and pretzels can easily get stuck in between your teeth and gums. A serious culprit is sugary drinks like pop, sports drinks, and fruit juice (even all-natural). A constant wash of sugary liquid over your teeth causes plaque and tartar build-up which leads to cavities.

Similarly, sucking on sugar candies or mints, and thick chewy candies like toffees are also a big risk for the teeth. Coffee and tea are bad for stains, and these hot beverages with a few sugars added is even worse. The acids from wine and other alcohol also wears on teeth. Steer clear of smoking that yellows the teeth and can potentially lead to mouth cancer and other conditions.

Take Better Winter Care

With cold weather comes dry lips that can crack and tempt us to pick and peel away at the delicate lip skin. Protect your lips with an all-natural lip balm with no drying chemicals, and steer clear of menthol, which may feel nice and tingly, but can be drying.

Stick to Daily Cleaning Habits

Floss and then brush your teeth twice a day with a soft brush and a high-quality toothpaste recommended by the Canadian Dental Association. Take extra care by adding in an additional brush and/or mouth rinse after snacking on sugary foods and sticky carbohydrates.

Stop Inappropriate Chewing

Chewing on ice while enjoying your beverage might seem harmless, but it’s actually too much for your teeth on a regular basis. If you find yourself absent-mindedly chewing on other objects like pencils, pens, or the arm of your glasses, buy some sugar-free gum to chew on instead.

Pay attention to the chewing habit and think to yourself “stop chewing” to gain presence of mind about the behaviour. For the younger members of your family, see your family dentist about mouth guard options to prevent chewing and thumb sucking.

Don’t Use Your Teeth Like a Tool

Take a moment to search for the scissors or ask someone else to help you when you’re struggling to open a package. The wear and tear from using your teeth to tear plastic and other hard objects can cause surprising damage over time.

The key to breaking bad habits is noticing them, stopping and thinking about the behaviour, and slowly changing it over time. It won’t happen over night, but you can make changes to smile about.