Just as our health needs evolve as we age, so too does our oral healthcare routine
Your smile changes through every chapter of life, so the brushing habits you relied on as a teenager won’t cut it when you are managing pregnancy, orthodontics, or senior dental care. Tailoring your oral healthcare to your exact life stage makes all the difference, and upgrading your routine is easier than you think.
Quick Read:
- Good dental care starts in childhood. Begin cleaning your child’s gums before the teeth appear, transitioning to a rice-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste at the first tooth. Supervise brushing until about age eight and make an appointment for the initial dental visit by age one to monitor jaw development and prevent early decay.
- In adult teeth, prevent deep staining and enamel erosion by limiting acidic beverages and rinsing your mouth with water immediately after finishing your drink.
- In the teenage years, encourage your child to brush and floss twice a day and minimise excessively sugary beverages.
Everyone in your house needs a different oral healthcare routine
Consider the average family bathroom. There’s probably a toothbrush cup that’s not quite as organised as it should be. Maybe an old tube of toothpaste and some brushes way past their best days.
We share the space. We share some of the products. But we don’t necessarily share the same oral care needs. A five-year-old who is learning how to brush, a teenager with braces, an adult worrying about their gums, and an older family member with changing dental needs can all live under the same roof – but their dental care needs are unique.
That’s something we don’t always think about. We tend to learn the basics early: brush twice a day, don’t eat too much sugar, and visit the dentist regularly. This is all good advice, but dental care is a little more interesting and complex than that.
Back to basics: our daily routine needs a tune-up
We all learned the routine way back in childhood: grab a brush, add a dollop of paste, and scrub. But a survey of South African dental professionals by Ivodent and Sunstar GUM reveals that only about a third of South Africans actually clean between their teeth every day, while 40% rely on an incorrect brushing technique.
It’s an easy trap to fall into. Most of us never received a proper tutorial after our childhood years, leaving us to fumble our way through decades of morning and night routines without realising where the gaps are. A quick refresher isn’t about lecturing or assuming you are doing everything wrong; it is simply about catching the little blind spots (like missing those tight spaces where plaque loves to hide) so your smile stays healthy for the long haul.
First things first: are you brushing properly?
Let’s start with the thing almost everyone does. Brushing. Most of us have been doing it for so long that we don’t really think about how we’re doing it anymore. We pick up the toothbrush, squeeze on some toothpaste, and get on with our morning. But brushing harder doesn’t necessarily mean brushing better.
In fact, being too aggressive can irritate or damage the gums and contribute to sensitivity. The aim is to clean the teeth thoroughly without treating them like a stubborn stain on a kitchen counter.
Take your time. Clean the different surfaces of the teeth and pay attention to the gumline. A gentle, consistent technique is more useful than simply brushing as hard and as quickly as possible. And if you’ve never actually been shown how to brush effectively, your dentist or oral hygienist can demonstrate a technique suited to you.
When was the last time you cleaned between your teeth?
If your answer is, “I floss sometimes?”, you’re certainly not alone. The spaces between our teeth are easy to forget because we can’t always see what’s happening there. But plaque and food debris can collect in these areas, and a toothbrush can’t reach everywhere.
This is where cleaning between the teeth comes in. You might use dental floss, an interdental brush or another appropriate tool, depending on the spaces between your teeth and your individual needs. And there isn’t necessarily one perfect option for everyone. Someone with very tight spaces between their teeth may need something different from someone with larger gaps. Braces, bridges, implants, and other dental work can also change what works best. If you’re not sure what to use, ask your dentist or oral hygienist. It could make the whole process much easier.
Your tongue is part of your mouth too. We spend a lot of time thinking about our teeth. Understandably; they’re the things we see when we smile. But your tongue deserves a little attention too. Its surface has tiny grooves where bacteria and debris can collect. Gently cleaning the tongue can be part of a good oral care routine and may help with bad breath.
The key word is gently. You don’t need to attack your tongue with a toothbrush as though you’re trying to remove paint from a wall. A gentle tongue cleaner or brushing the tongue lightly can be enough.
Don’t ignore your gums
Your gums can be quite good at telling you when something isn’t quite right. Bleeding when brushing or cleaning between your teeth, swelling, redness, tenderness, or persistent bad breath shouldn’t simply become something you learn to live with.
It’s particularly easy to assume that as your gums always bleed, that it’s normal. However, it certainly isn’t something to ignore. If you’re regularly experiencing bleeding or other changes, it’s worth having your mouth checked by a dental professional.
Your oral health and general wellbeing are connected, and gum disease has been associated with a number of wider health conditions, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes. That doesn’t mean that having gum disease automatically causes these conditions. The relationship is more complicated than that. But it does remind us that oral health isn’t simply about avoiding cavities or having a nice smile.
Images: Unsplash
