What’s New in Dental Hygiene?
Good dental hygiene not only keeps your teeth and your smile looking better for longer, but it can also improve your overall health, especially as you get older. There’s more to dental hygiene than just brushing and flossing. Scientists are making new discoveries all the time in regard to the links between good oral hygiene and living longer.
Conversely, not brushing your teeth or visiting your dentist regularly not only results in tooth decay, bad breath and gum disease, but it also greatly increases your risk of a large range of health problems.
Let’s take a look at what’s new in dental hygiene and why good oral health is so important.
Saliva: The New Health Measuring Tool
A doctor or dentist can take a look inside your mouth and quickly learn a lot about the health of your body. Nowadays, saliva swabs are being tested and used for early detection of all kinds of health problems and diseases. Saliva testing can measure hormones, environmental toxins, and antibodies that indicate infection in the body, and saliva tests are now available to detect HIV-specific antibodies. In the future, saliva testing will replace blood tests for the diagnosis and monitoring of many diseases.
Saliva’s Defence Mechanisms
Your saliva is one of the first lines of defence against bacteria, viruses and other infections. It contains antibodies that attack viruses such as the common cold, and enzymes that destroy bacteria. Good oral hygiene helps to keep infection at bay and keeps your immune system strong.
Bad Oral Hygiene Causes Infection
While your saliva can help to control infection, it can only do so much, and not brushing and flossing regularly means bacteria builds up and causes gum disease and other problems. These bacteria can enter your bloodstream via gum injuries from chewing hard foods, brushing too hard, or even invasive dental treatments. If your immune system is compromised, the bacteria can cause infection in other parts of your body.
New Oral Hygiene Products
Oral hygiene products are big business, and there’s always something new to make it easier to keep your teeth and gums clean and healthy. Here are some of the latest products to hit the market:
- Gadgets that use UV light to sanitise your toothbrush eliminating up to 99.9% of germs
- Water flossers which have been proven to be more effective than traditional floss and are great for sensitive gums and those with braces
- Toothbrushes with soft silicone bristles that don’t damage gums or tooth enamel
- Stain-dissolving strips that stick to your teeth and dissolve in a few minutes for quick, convenient teeth whitening
Dental Hygienist – West Auckland
At Titirangi Dental, we provide caring, professional dental services for the whole family using the latest in dental equipment and technology. We’re dedicated to helping you maintain and improve your smile with a full range of general and cosmetic dentistry.
Call us on 09 817 6057, or contact us online for enquiries and expert advice about dental hygiene and any other dental concerns you have.
