Drink Plenty Of Water To Help Maintain Healthier Teeth And Gums

26 / 04 / 2018

Drink Plenty Of Water To Help Maintain Healthier Teeth And Gums

A Simple Way To Boost The Health Of Your Mouth

Keeping our mouth clean and healthy involves a number of different actions that we have mentioned before; brushing, flossing, dental and hygienist visits in particular.

There is one simple addition to these that we all can do, and that is to make sure that we drink plenty of water.

Staying well hydrated is good for our health in general, helping to flush toxins and waste from our bodies. It also is great for our teeth and gums too.

Reduce sugars

First of all, water is the best way to quench your thirst. Although sugary fizzy drinks may taste good and give us a refreshing taste, at least initially; most of these are very high in sugar and also, often, acids. These are very harmful to our teeth and we would be well advised to stick to water as much as possible, saving this type of drink for special occasions. This especially applies to younger patients of our Ipswich practice who are likely to have a very sweet tooth.

Remove food particles

Although it will not remove it all, drinking water regularly will help to flush away some of the food that gets stuck between our teeth. It won’t be as effective as flossing, but given that around 80% of the population don’t use floss, drinking more water can only be a good thing to help move in the right direction. In fact, it is worth swilling the first couple of mouthfuls around the mouth before swallowing, or spitting if you prefer, to make this even more effective. This should not be a substitute for brushing, flossing and seeing the hygienist at the Lighthouse Dental Practice, of course.

Dry mouth

A dry warm mouth is a perfect place for harmful bacteria to breed, and you can be sure that they will in this environment. An increase in the number of ‘bad’ bacteria in our mouth is bad news for our gums, with problems like gingivitis and periodontitis probably not very far away. Staying well hydrated will help to prevent this and will also help to flush away the undesirable bacteria.

When not to use water

Just as an aside, there is one time when you should not use water if you want to protect your teeth. When you clean your teeth, you should spit, but not rinse your mouth out with water afterwards. Although this might feel like the right thing to do and is also probably what you have been told by your parents; dentists now agree that you should not rinse. The reason for this is that it reduces the amount of fluoride that comes into contact with your teeth. Fluoride is very beneficial for your teeth and strengthens the enamel, helping to protect it from decay.

So, the advice from our team at the Lighthouse Dental Practice is to drink plenty of water, drinking it before you feel thirsty. Just keep it out of your mouth for a while after brushing your teeth!

For dental advice or to make an appointment at our Ipswich dental practice, please call us on 01473 257379.

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If you would like to speak to a member of our friendly team about any of the issues in this article please visit our contact page or call us on 01473 257379.