Cleaning Your Teeth – Which Areas To Focus On?
Why you should pay special attention to the rear of your teeth when brushing.
Hopefully most of us clean our teeth twice a day, doing so with a ‘healthy’ toothbrush and using a fluoride toothpaste. If we do this, we probably feel that we are doing enough, and it’s certainly a good start. However, there are certain areas of our mouth that we perhaps don’t pay sufficient attention to and we’ll focus on that and how to fix it in today’s Foxhall Dental Practice blog.
We all want our teeth to look as nice as possible, even if we don’t use cosmetic dental treatments to achieve this. Naturally then, our focus is usually on the most visible part of our teeth; i.e. the front surfaces that others see. This is all well and good, but it does also mean that areas that are prone to problems, usually those that are less visible, don’t always get the attention that they deserve. We will look at these now.
Back of the rear teeth
Brushing our rear teeth, both top and bottom, can feel quite a challenge, and even more so at the very back of them. These areas can be really difficult to reach with a regular toothbrush and there are special brushes designed for this purpose which are worth looking into. Using dental floss is also extremely useful as well. The truth is that this is an area that does tend to get neglected and is where a lot of tooth decay starts. Both food particles and bacteria can become trapped here and unless we make that extra effort, tooth decay is perhaps to be expected.
Rear of the front teeth
This is an easier area to brush than the rear teeth mentioned above, and food is less likely to become trapped here (though do make sure to floss between the teeth to remove any food debris). One of the main issues with this area is that our tongues tend to push food and saliva towards the teeth. Brushing and flossing should take care of the food and bacteria but saliva still collects here and perhaps more than elsewhere in the mouth.
In itself, this isn’t a bad thing and saliva is beneficial for our mouths on the whole. One issue though is that saliva also contains minerals and these can get stuck on the rear of our front teeth. This contributes to the formation of a rough “crust” known as tartar which in turns collects more deposits. If you can, try to have a look at the back of your front teeth. If they looked stained, it is probably this that is causing it.
Make sure then that you spend time cleaning this part of your mouth. As we will see next, gum disease is an issue that can arise if we don’t.
Gum disease risks
In addition to any damage, such as tooth decay, that might occur if we don’t reach these areas effectively, we shouldn’t ignore the possibility of a higher risk of gum disease. For example, brushing the gums on the inside of our upper rear teeth can be very challenging, and especially if you are tired at night, may not get cleaned as well as they could. Over time, the bacteria starts to cause problems such as inflammation and soreness in these areas and can eventually lead to damage to the bone that the tooth is secured in. Eventually, this can lead to those teeth becoming loose or may even result in tooth loss.
Again, pay special attention to these areas and, as a rule of thumb, the more difficult you find it to brush certain areas, the more you should put extra focus on it. Doing so will certainly increase your chances of having healthy teeth and gums for years to come.
Benefits of dental hygienists
Doing your best to do as we have suggested above is certainly a positive move forwards, but we also recommend that you don’t ignore the benefits of seeing our Ipswich dental hygienist for a scale and polish procedure every six months, or more frequently if you are a high risk patient such as a diabetic. Our hygienist can see any build up of tartar or other problems arising in these areas and then professionally clean them to remove the problem. They can also offer additional advice to help you to keep all areas of your teeth and gums clean and free from issues like tooth decay and gum disease.
If you would like further advice on this or would like to make an appointment to see either a dentist or hygienist at our Ipswich clinic, you can do so by calling the Foxhall Dental Practice today on 01473 258396.