Tips from your Hygienist to take care of your smile

A well-groomed and healthy smile is one of the best business cards you can have. How can you take care of it and keep it bright? What are the behaviors to avoid? We asked Dr. Elisabetta Polizzi, coordinator of the Bachelor’s Degree in Dental Hygiene at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University.

The toothbrush, a crucial tool

Maintaining a healthy and correct oral hygiene certainly starts with brushing your teeth, which should ideally be done after breakfast and before going to bed in the evening.

The duration of brushing is 2 minutes; to obtain an effective result, there are currently devices such as electric toothbrushes equipped with a timer, which allow us to monitor the time we dedicate to our oral hygiene. A tip for manual toothbrush nostalgics: use the timer on your phone!

The use of a toothbrush with medium-soft bristles is also fundamental, respecting both the hard tissues and the soft tissues of the oral cavity, i.e. the teeth and gums. Let's not forget that correct and effective oral hygiene cannot leave out the interproximal spaces (those between tooth and tooth and between tooth and gum)! We can clean them with special brushes, called intertental toothbrushes: on the market they exist with tapers and shapes for every need.

Choosing the right toothpaste

For a beneficial effect on our dental enamel, the use of a delicate, fluorinated and non-abrasive toothpaste is indicated. It's also very important not to be fooled by products that promise to deliver amazing results, such as whitening toothpastes. With their too high degree of abrasiveness they can damage the enamel structure and also lead to a possible increase in dental hypersensitivity.

For those who suffer from it, here's another little tip: use warm water when washing and avoid taking acidic foods or drinks (such as juices or citrus fruits) immediately before brushing. In general, it is best to wait thirty minutes after the last meal or drink before brushing your teeth.

Whiten your teeth the right way

For a whiter smile, it is better to avoid do-it-yourself whitening products, such as toothpastes or strips to be applied to the teeth: the former have a particularly high degree of abrasiveness, while the latter do not have an effective whitening power and therefore are not able to able to give us the desired result.

To brighten or lighten up the color of our enamel in the best and most suitable way for our mouth, it is best to rely on qualified and competent personnel, such as the professionals of the San Raffaele Dental School.

References

Gherlone et al. “Linee guida nazionali per la promozione della salute orale e la prevenzione delle patologie orali in età adulta - Aggiornamento anno 2015”