Caring for an Elderly Parent With Special Dental Needs
3 Things You Need To Know About Caring For Your Teeth
Joe Lawrence
Most people are pretty good at brushing their teeth. However, brushing teeth is not the only way to keep your teeth healthy. Here are some things you should be doing, in addition to brushing and flossing, to care for your teeth.
1. Drink More Water
Water plays such an important role in your health. It is common knowledge that you should be drinking water to keep your body hydrated, maintain a healthy weight, and a myriad of other things. However, what more people don't recognize is that drinking water is also good for your teeth. One of the most dangerous things for your mouth is acid. When you eat, even a simple snack, the acid stays in your mouth and can rot your teeth. Drinking water helps to neutralize the acid and keep the teeth from decaying. You should be drinking water after every meal. When you drink the water, avoid using a straw. This will help the water to swish around the teeth and remove any sugars stuck in the teeth.
2. Avoid Snacking Throughout The Day
Your teeth need a break from being used and being exposed to sugars. If you are eating and drinking throughout the day, your salvia won't be able to clean the teeth and your teeth will constantly be sitting with sugar on them. This is why it is best to eat scheduled meals throughout the day, so that your teeth can get a break from being used.
3. Go To The Dentist Regularly
There are many reasons that you should be going to the dentist regularly, at least every 6 months. The first reason is that they can catch problems early on. Cavities progress pretty slowly. This means that by going every 6 months the dentist will be able to catch decay and problems before they become too large. They will be able to do simple filling on the tooth, rather than a full crown or even root canal. If the problem goes undetected for a long time, what could have been an inexpensive and simple filling, will now be a painful and expensive dental procedure.
Second, when you go to the dentist, you will receive a dental cleaning. This is more effective than your everyday brushing and can protect your teeth for weeks.
By doing these simple things you can be sure that you are caring for your teeth in the best way possible. Contact a dentist, like George J Mendel DMD, for more information.
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Caring for an elderly parent tends to be tough enough without the added stress of dealing with dental implants or dentures. But, the prospect is not the end of the world—there are many things you can do to ensure that your parent's dental health is not compromised without having to spend a lot of personal time doing the care yourself. Between working with the right dentist, hiring a service provider for part time work, and giving your parent the tools he or she needs to care for his or her own dental health at home, you'll find that dental health for your loved one isn't so tough or time consuming after all. Hopefully you are able to get the support and information you need right here.