Benefits of Oral Hygiene

Like any good investment, preventative care is much less expensive than the cost of repairs of damages from neglect. This is true for your home, it's true for your car, and it's true for your teeth. The big difference with your teeth is it can affect your overall health and well being - and the cost of neglect in this area can't be measured in dollars.

 The Cost Of Neglect - Expensive Dental Treatments
 If you develop complications from tooth decay and gum disease, you may be dealing with bills for anything from fillings or crowns to more costly and complicated procedures such as root canals or oral surgery to extract damaged teeth and place dental implants.

 The Cost of Oral Hygiene
 By comparison, the cost of basic oral hygiene and preventive teeth cleaning is low. The cost of a good soft bristle toothbrush, replaced every three months or so, is only a few dollars. The same goes for dental floss.
 A quick once-over with your toothbrush isn't the answer to oral hygiene or to keeping a beautiful smile. Good oral hygiene, including daily brushing and flossing, combined with regular visits to your dentist, is the first line of defense against the buildup of plaque and eventual periodontal disease. Good oral hygiene also guards your general well-being and health.
 Dentists will tell you that a daily habit of brushing and flossing makes your gums healthy, makes your teeth healthy, and improves the odor of your breath. But there are also other benefits. Consider the bacterial flora of the mouth. There is only one other place, for the most part, in the body that has a flora anything close to what the colon has, and that's the mouth. It has a lot of anaerobic bacteria (can grow without oxygen), which means it's going to grow a more potentially pungent odor-producing kind of bacteria, and those that can produce certain types of chemicals that cause diseases like periodontitis and unique complications like tooth, gum, and bone decay.
 Make it a habit to gargle after you eat anything. This is the one very important habit that almost everyone neglects. This is very important to maintain good oral hygiene as it gets rid of any food particles that can be left behind after eating. It is these food particles that remain in the mouth and start decaying and give rise to more expensive dental problems.