While it’s important that you partner with a local dentist like Dr. Ben Johnson at Johnson Family Dental in Paducah for regular maintenance appointments, maintaining a great at-home routine may be even more important.
At Johnson Family Dental, your Paducah dentist recommends patients visit us a minimum of twice a year for dental checkups, but the other 363 days of the year oral hygiene is up to you. If you’d like to find out more about caring for your smile, don’t hesitate to contact us. During a dental checkup, one of our skilled hygienists can demonstrate great at-home hygiene techniques to ensure every member of your family maintains their healthiest smiles.
YOUR AT-HOME HYGIENE ROUTINE
Most of our patients know they need to brush and floss every day, but there are some tips and tricks you can use to improve your daily brushing flossing including:
- Brush for at least two minutes at a time at least two times each day
- Angle your brush at 45 degrees towards the gum line to ensure your remove plaque from the teeth and gums
- Brush systematically not randomly to ensure every tooth (front, back, and bite) is cleaned
- Floss at least once a day to remove plaque buildup between teeth
- Consider brushing or using antibacterial mouth rinses between meals, but wait at least thirty minutes to allow the saliva to neutralize acids
FUN ORAL HEALTH CARE TIPS FOR KIDS
Young children like to have fun, and for many of them, brushing teeth and flossing aren’t something they look forward to. In fact, many of our parents tell us their kids fight them during brushing and especially flossing. We encourage you to help your child have fun with brushing and flossing. You can find daily hygiene charts online. Every time your child brushes or flosses, you can add a sticker or check mark. Many parents track these daily brushing and flossing stars and give fun treats like days at the park as a reward. Don’t hesitate to ask one of our team members about ways to make brushing fun for your kids next time you visit our office.
DIET & YOUR SMILE
The foods and drinks we consume contain nutrients that are broken down by oral bacteria. As these bacteria digest nutrients from our foods, they excrete a sticky, acidic biofilm known as plaque. The more sugars in the food, the more acidic the plaque. Oral saliva should be able to neutralize these plaques, but when the acid levels are increased beyond the ability of saliva to neutralize, the result can be a weakening of tooth enamel. For this reason, we encourage patients to limit their intake of sugary and acidic foods.
DON’T FORGET YOUR DENTAL CHECKUPS!
In addition to taking great care of your family’s smile every day at home, we also encourage patients to visit our Paducah, KY dental office at least two times each year for checkups. During these checkups, we can help you and your loved ones better understand any areas you should focus on when caring for your smile at home. We’ll happily answer any questions you may have, and our professional teeth cleanings improve the efficacy of your at-home hygiene.
If you have questions or are looking for a Paducah area dentist, please contact us at Johnson Family Dental. We are conveniently located at 2913 Lone Oak Rd, Paducah, KY. You can reach us by phone at (270) 554-2432 or CLICK HERE to contact us today!