Brush Up on Oral Care

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Apologies for the amount of puns that are going to be in this post. Ha! Who am I kidding. #sorrynotsorry See if you can count them all!

For a blog with the name of The Minted Beauty, it would be a terrible waste to not at least touch on dental hygiene. Mouth hygiene is something that doesn’t come to the fore-front of the mind when thinking about attractive people. It’s always nice eyes, clear skin, and shiny hair. BUT one of the most important and deciding factors of deciding if someone is attractive is their dental hygiene.

Nope, I am not talking about straight teeth. As some (or all) of you may be away, I have a gap between my two top front teeth. I have slightly crooked lower teeth. I’ve never had braces because they are painful, and while I used to want to fix my ‘imperfection’ I kind of like it now. It’s unique and me. To get that out of the way, while my teeth may be unusual, one thing I do take pride in is how healthy my teeth are. I want to close the gap between beauty and damn good-looking healthy teeth!

Brushing

While you may brush your teeth perfectly fine and correctly with a regular toothbrush, every dentist I have spoken to has suggested to purchase an electric toothbrush. This can really help with ensuring that every surface is left clean from plaque, and it is a real time saver as well. It is also bad for your gum tissue to brush too hard, which is why an electric toothbrush works wonders.  I use an Oral-B Professional Healthy Clean Precision Electric Toothbrush with a flossing brush head, and it even tells me when I have been brushing for the recommended brushing time (about 2 minutes)! I highly recommend this product, as do lots of dentists. Ask your preferred dentist or hygienist, they will know the drill. Also, it may seem obvious, but please brush your teeth twice a day guys!

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Flossing

Everyone has their own flossify when it comes to dental hygiene. I have a ‘flossing action’ brush head, but nothing is compared to actually flossing. It removes food and plaque build up that has been missed from brushing and can reduce the cause of cavities. There is the option to use water picks, dental floss or dental tape. I prefer dental floss because you have a lot more control, and you don’t need to wash it at the beginning of each tooth space, like you must do with a water pick.  There is also dental tape, which is essentially the same thing, but thicker and flatter. I don’t particularly find a need for the tape as floss fits between most of my teeth easily.

The water picks come in various sizes, and I recommend seeing your dentist or dental hygienist before choosing a size. They may be even able to give you some samples to try for free! Water picks are particularly useful if you have braces or a plate, because they can be easier to guide and you won’t get a tangled mess of floss among your teeth hardware acci-dentally!

I like to use Oral-B Essential Floss. I like to buy it in the larger container so I rarely run out!

Mouthwash

Mouthwash has been around for centuries, and is a great way to forgo diseases such as gingivitis. There has been bad word-of-mouth regarding mouthwashes that I have heard recently, including the possibility of oral cancer. This is for mouthwashes that contain alcohol, and while there still isn’t a great deal of evidence, I don’t want to be a part of those statistics! I pick up an alcohol-free mouth wash and it does the job just as well. I only use mouthwash at night, for the only reason of my breath is TOO fresh and I can’t enjoy a morning cuppa. Silly I know, but I feel bacteria free from other steps anyway, and this is more for the health of my gums and small nooks and crannies that I can’t reach via flossing and brushing. I use Biotene Oral Rinse.

Tongue Scraper

Buying a tongue scraper changed my life. There, I said it! My mouth has never felt cleaner or more bacteria free than after a good scrape. I bought mine at the chemist for around $1, and it is definitely worth much more than that! It’s a great way to freshen your breath (bacteria can grow on your tongue and smell, yuck!) and it’s quite satisfying to have a clean tongue. Try it and I swear you will be hooked!

Whitening Strips

I have used a lot of whitening toothpastes over time, but nothing compares to a whitening strip (unless, of course, you pay to get it done at the dentist). Whitening strips, however, gradually lighten your teeth over time, so they are less prone to sensitivity than if you had them bleached professionally. You can also control how white you go. Do you really want to blind that cute boy at the bus stop with unnaturally neon teeth? I use Crest 3d White Professional Effects Teeth Whitening Strips
which I purchased off eBay. I only used probably about five before I found that my teeth were satisfyingly white. It may take a longer or shorter time depending on your teeth shade, and repeating the process depends on different eating/other oral hygiene habits as well. It’s been six months since my last strip and I will probably re-lighten them fairly soon.

I hope you found this post interesting! Do you have any thoughts on dental hygiene, and do you have a routine you swear by? I would love to hear your thoughts!