Good oral care is all about keeping the bacteria in your mouth under control. Don’t get grossed out – the bacteria are good for you, but only in small amounts. Bacteria feed on the food particles that get left on our teeth after we eat and multiply and glom together into what we know as plaque, which builds into a thin layer over the course of the day and won’t come off unless you make an effort to remove it. Some bacteria produce acids that weaken your enamel, others infect your gums, still others cause bad breath and other oral care issues you probably want to avoid if you can.

Home oral care and proper dental hygiene shouldn’t be something we’re scared or guilt-tripped into doing. Statistics show that good home oral care doesn’t work like that. Of people who actually go to the dentist, most will floss daily for about a week or two because the hygienist made them feel guilty, but will slowly start slacking until their next dental visit. Guilt doesn’t work.

How about we try a different way? Oral Care 101 is here to show you what good oral care can lead to – what a healthy mouth is supposed to look like. If your teeth or gums don’t quite measure up, that’s okay. We’ve got all kinds of tips to help you get them in top shape.

So read on in peace and comfort. Freedom from oral care guilt is just a few clicks away.

HEALTHY TEETH

We’ve all seen them – the ads on the internet and television that show gorgeous people with these …these…teeth! Really, really white teeth! And they’re shiny and it’s pretty and we want to have some just like them. So we bleach and we whiten and we scrub and we get...super-sensitive teeth, burned gums, and a huuuuuge dentist bill.

That’s because healthy teeth aren’t necessarily super-white. Yellow isn’t good, don’t get us wrong, but there’s a huge difference between stained or spotted teeth and teeth that aren’t perfectly white.

A healthy tooth should be uniform in color, a little on the yellow side because the layer under the enamel, called dentin, is yellow. Since healthy enamel is translucent, that yellow shows through a little bit. Your dentist can help you determine if the discoloration you think you have is stained enamel or just the natural color of your teeth. They shouldn’t be cracked or chipped or have pitted surfaces.

If your teeth are stained, protecting your teeth from sensitivity and other complications during the whitening process is important. Understanding the chemicals you’re exposing your teeth to, which products are scams, and how much a reasonable treatment should cost will help you make a good decision about how to get whiter teeth. For more information on these and other tooth whitening questions check out Whitening101.com.

Good oral care for teeth isn’t complicated – just brush and floss daily. That’s it. And don’t even start rolling your eyes and groaning about wasted time – it takes maybe 3 minutes to get it done, even less if you use a floss pick and floss in the car on your way around town. Plaque and tartar buildup is just plain ugly, and saving yourself from being disfigured by periodontal disease is definitely worth the time.

Good oral care for teeth also involves making sure you don’t grind your teeth, a condition called bruxism that can cause serious damage to your teeth, jaw, and neck. Take a look at Bruxism101.com for more information.

HEALTHY GUMS

Our gums, or “gingival tissues” as our dentists like to call them, are probably the place we’re most likely to have oral care problems. For instance, you can have gingivitis and not even know it! Knowing what your gums are supposed to look like will help you recognize early warning signs and stop problems before they get worse.

Healthy gums are light pink, lightly textured and fit snugly to the contours of your teeth. They should have a firm but slightly yielding texture and should not bleed. Did you get that? Your gums should never bleed. That is always a sure sign that something is amiss and you need to get checked out.

Oral care for gums is the same as it is for teeth – brush and floss. If you’re not in the habit your gums may bleed easily when you first start flossing, but keep it up and it’ll stop. The key is stimulating the gums, keeping the blood flowing and cleaning out plaque that creeps under your gumline.

HEALTHY TONGUE

The tongue is a surprisingly informative part of your body. Changes in the color, texture, and feeling of your tongue can tell you a lot about what’s going on in your body. For instance, a symptom of anemia, an iron deficiency in the blood, is a pale, smooth tongue.

A healthy tongue is fairly smooth (the only texture should be your taste buds), pink and moist. Some people have what’s called a fissured tongue, an inherited trait gives the tongue grooves of varying sizes. This is completely healthy and poses no real risk to oral health.  If you have grooves on your tongue that are painful, inflamed, or have unusual colors they could be a sign that something is wrong. Definitely discuss any irregularities with your dentist.

Generally speaking, if something looks or feels wrong with your tongue, it’s a good idea to bring up concerns with your dentist. Many disorders, illnesses, and nutrient deficiencies have tongue-related symptoms that might even be early-warning signs of potential health problems.

Good oral care for your tongue means daily cleaning. Surprisingly, brushing really isn’t a good way to clean your tongue – it just shoves gunk around and doesn’t actually get rid of anything. Using a tongue cleaner to scrape off bacteria and other microorganisms is fast, easy and effective. And, since bacteria buildup on the tongue is a common cause of halitosis, cleaning your tongue daily has the added benefit of improving your breath!