The failure to floss can leave damaging amounts of plaque in the gaps between your teeth. If plaque is left there it can erode the layer of enamel and start to cause cavities. These will have to be filled otherwise the pulp chamber inside the tooth can become compromised and the health of the whole tooth will be threatened. Flossing doesn’t have to take very long and it is not a costly pursuit. In fact a box of dental floss represents excellent value as they usually contain many metres of dental floss.

Other things to consider when you are looking after your teeth at home include how you are brushing your teeth and the equipment you are using. Overly vigorous brushing can do more harm than good and the use of a brush with frayed bristles won’t do much remove plaque at all.

Even if you brush your teeth really well and take the advice to floss too, there is one other crucial part of your dental routine that should not be neglected: six monthly visits to your dentist in West London.

Of course most people know of the effects of eating too many boiled sweets, for example. Full of sugar and with a tendency to stick to your teeth for long after you have been eating them, these can contribute to a large amount of plaque in the mouth. But anything with high levels of sugar should be eaten with restraint when it comes to thinking about your oral hygiene.

Other foods that can be damaging for teeth include things like fruit and potato crisps. Fruit is very good for you generally and contains plenty of vitamins but it is also high in sugars too. The habit of eating cheese as the very final course in a meal can be explained in part because of how it helps to naturally remove some of the sugar from one’s teeth. Crisps are a problem because of their texture and the way fragments of them tend to hang around in the mouth after they have been eaten.

Dentists in the City of London recommend that a special effort is made to brush your teeth after you have eaten any food which tends to produce a lot of plaque bacteria.

When you brush your teeth is important. Most people tend to do so first thing in the morning and last thing at night as well. During sleep your saliva production is particularly low so it is a good idea to brush away the bacteria that form when you wake up. Doing so in the evening as well will remove most of the plaque that has been formed from the meals you have eaten. Some people choose to brush after meals too and this is particularly advisable if the meals have contained a lot of sugar and or starch.

The brush you use will make a difference in several ways. You must choose one that is comfortable to hold and with a head that is small enough to easily manoeuvre around all the nooks and crannies of your mouth.

London W1 dentists also advise patients that they should replace their brush regularly so that frayed bristles cannot hamper your plaque removal efforts.

Oral hygiene is just as much a part of health considerations as looking after the rest of your body. Your mouth is an intimate part of key things that you do every day: eating, drinking, talking, breathing and smiling. Ensuring that your mouth is as healthy as it can be does not have to be something that takes up a great deal of time and effort. A few simple acts that become routinized are all that it takes to make sure that you have lasting health in your mouth.

Think of oral hygiene in two main parts: what you do at home to take care of your teeth and your relationship with your London W1 dentist. Home oral care should consist of regular brushings of your teeth using fluoride tooth paste. This should be done at least twice a day and be followed by flossing. The aim here is to rid the mouth of the plaque that builds up after eating and can lead to tooth decay and gum disease.

Even with the best of care though, dental ailments are still a possibility and that is where the relationship with your dentist comes into play. By allowing him or her to examine your mouth thoroughly for signs of things like cavities, gingivitis and oral cancer you are giving yourself the best chance of avoiding complications, pain and invasive treatment.

If you want to avoid things like dental decay and gum disease it is imperative that you also floss your teeth. Plaque will hide wherever it can, including between your teeth. You must not let it stay there because it will break down the enamel on your teeth and, if it is on the gum line of your teeth, begin to inflame the gums. Flossing should remove most of the plaque that is between teeth, leaving you free to enjoy your dental health.

The decisions you take in the rest of your life can have an impact on how healthy your mouth is too. Activities like smoking tobacco and drinking alcohol to an excess on a regular basis can cause oral cancer and they decrease the production of valuable saliva. A healthy diet and plenty of exercise means that you are fit and strong and more likely to fight off a number of things which might otherwise affect you.

Regular trips to your West London dentist complete the picture of a healthy outlook for your teeth and gums. They know more about teeth and gums than just about anyone can check that everything is running smoothly in your mouth.

This is not to say that brushing is not vital; of course it should form the cornerstone of any dental care routine. But you need to do more. Flossing is the activity that many people miss out when they look after their teeth. It is vital that flossing is undertaken as regularly as brushing because your tooth brush can only remove so much plaque from your mouth. Don’t give plaque a reprieve by letting it hide, undisturbed between your teeth.

Also you need to consider your diet and lifestyle. Even if you are an expert brusher of your teeth, not having a healthy diet and eating too many sugary foods can put your mouth at risk. Make sure that you are regularly visiting your dentists too. There are some problems with your mouth that you might not notice. Your London W1 dentist will be alert to the signs of things like tooth decay and periodontal disease and offer an early diagnosis. It would be a terrible shame if you compromised the health of your mouth simply because you neglected to go to the dentist at the right time.

Plaque is a substance which forms when you eat food, especially those which contains plenty of sugar and or starch. If left unchecked, plaque begins to attack the enamel which protects your teeth. In the end your teeth will begin to decay and become especially sensitive as the nerves inside are compromised and interfered with.

Brushing ought to remove plaque from most of the surface of your teeth but plaque also forms between the teeth and needs to be removed. This is where flossing comes in. After you have brushed, you should take a suitable amount of dental floss and pull it between your teeth in a back and forth motion.

Leaving plaque between the teeth can also be a leading form of gum disease. Don’t be afraid to start using floss if you have not done so before. Over time your gums will become hardened to the process of flossing but the first few times you do it there might be a little bleeding as your sensitive gums are lacerated by the floss. This is perfectly normal and you should persist with your new flossing regime.

Your London W1 dentist can give you plenty of advice about the right technique and which dental floss to buy.

Other dental facts that you may not be aware of are that you should always change your toothbrush after you have been ill with a cold or sore throat as many bacteria that cause these infections will remain on your toothbrush and can re-infect you. It is also true that the toothbrush head covers that many people use to protect their toothbrush from bacteria can actually make the problem worse because they do not allow moisture to escape which creates the perfect condition for the bacteria to thrive.

Toothpaste that claims to have whitening capabilities is little more effective at whitening the teeth than regular toothpaste. The only real way to guarantee that your teeth are white is to protect them from staining in the first instance by effectively cleaning them and avoiding substances like red wine and coffee that cause the discolouration. Or alternatively, you could opt to have a whitening treatment that will bleach the teeth white and restore them to a healthier colour. Patients with white teeth look younger than those with discolouration as whiter teeth are associated with youth.

Looking after your gums is just as important as your teeth. Nearly three quarters of adults in the UK will suffer with gum disease at some point in their lives. This can be very damaging to the teeth and also has links to heart conditions. Find out more dental health facts from your Central London dentist.

Perhaps the most serious of all the conditions that affect the mouth is oral cancer. This is classified as any cancer affecting the lips, tongue, cheek lining and throat. Oral cancer is a very nasty form of the disease that will be fatal if not caught and treated early enough. If the cancer is detected in time you stand a greater than 80 per cent chance of making a full recovery.

Oral cancer usually appears as small sores, lumps or patches on the soft tissue. These will be very sensitive to extremes of hot and cold and very painful. They also do not disappear after two weeks like non-cancerous sores in the mouth. They are often red or white or a combination of the two.

Your London W1 dentist will be able to examine any suspicious areas in the mouth and carry out a brush biopsy to test for cancerous cells. There are other signs of oral cancer which you need to be aware of including unexplained bleeding in the mouth and sudden weight loss. If you suspect oral cancer or are unsure about a certain part of the mouth make an appointment to see a dentist as soon as possible, it could be the most important decision you’ll ever make. Also ask your dentist for more information about oral cancer at your next appointment.