It’s National Gum Care Month
Maintaining healthy gums is one of the easiest things you can do for your oral health. Many people don’t understand the importance of healthy gums. This is the reason we recognize National Gum Care Month. When you visit our office for an oral hygiene examination and cleaning, we do more than just clean and check your teeth. We also evaluate your gum health. Healthy gums are necessary to not only provide support for your teeth and tooth roots but for your jawbone as well.
How to Care for Your Gums
More than half of American adults will experience gum disease at some point during their lifetime. While some patients experience gum disease due to family history, there are many others who experience this common disease due to improper oral hygiene and not caring for their gums.
The easiest way to care for your gums is to brush and floss your teeth as we recommend. If you are not aware of this, you should brush your teeth for a minimum of two minutes twice a day and use dental floss at least daily. While we know our patients are brushing their teeth, we also know that many of them are not flossing as regularly as they should be. During routine hygiene and examination appointments, we can tell who is flossing and how frequently they’re doing it by looking at the amount of plaque buildup between their teeth and along the gum line.
How to Floss
If you are not flossing regularly because you are unsure how to floss properly, we are happy to help you. Be sure to mention that you need help flossing the next time you visit our office for a routine appointment, and we would be more than happy to give a demonstration. In the meantime, here are some helpful tips for flossing your teeth properly. Take a long piece of dental floss and wrap a small section around your two index fingers. Use the small piece between your fingers to gently move the dental floss up and down between your teeth. Be sure to make a C motion to clean along the gum line. It is important that you are not using vigorous strokes and pushing down roughly, or you will traumatize your gums.
If you are located in Houston, TX, or the surrounding area and concerned about the state of your gums or need an oral hygiene examination for yourself or a loved one, we encourage you to contact our office to schedule an appointment. We look forward to seeing you soon!
