It’s always important to take good care of your teeth by brushing and flossing daily and seeing your Red Bank dentist regularly. Now, however, we have all entered a new phase of life, and it’s requiring some adjustments. Even though yoga pants and sweats have become a daily norm, hopefully, your oral health habits haven’t fallen by the wayside.
Don’t Avoid Brushing Because You’re Scared
The two biggest rules of COVID-19 prevention are to keep your hands off your face and wash your hands well. What does that mean for brushing and flossing, an activity that is all about sticking your hands in your mouth? It doesn’t mean anything – you should still be brushing and flossing as usual. Here’s how to make yourself feel better about it:
- Wash first. You’re probably not in the habit of washing your hands before you brush and floss. Get in the habit. Twenty seconds with hot water and soap, cleaning in between your fingers, under your nails, and the tops of your hands as well as your palms.
- Clean your toothbrush. Wipe off your brush handle with a safe disinfectant before and after you brush.
- No sharing. Do you usually keep your toothbrushes together in a community cup in your family bathroom? No more. (In fact, you should probably abandon this tradition altogether, even in the best of times.) Keep your brush away from others in its own storage area, whether that’s in the medicine cabinet or a toothbrush holder. Everyone should also have their own tube of toothpaste to use. Might seem like a bit of an investment up front, but it helps prevent the spread of germs.
- Floss comfortably. Even if you’ve taken every precaution and are still scared to floss, don’t give up the practice entirely. If you’re hesitant to take a length of floss and get in there, use floss picks. They are limiting but they’re better than nothing.
As a last resort, wear gloves to brush and floss. As long as the job gets done daily and gets done well.
Keep Brushing Even Though You’re Staying Home
It can be tempting to slack a little on personal hygiene when you’re stuck at home with nowhere to go and no one to impress. There are plenty of unshaved faces and legs, unwashed hair or hair that’s not styled. What you don’t want is to be the person with the dirty, gross mouth.
You may justify that you’re wearing a mask on the rare occasions you do go out, so even if you do have bad breath or gunky teeth, no one will see them. Well, you’ll notice right away inside that mask if something doesn’t smell very good, and you won’t enjoy festering in it until you can get home and brush.
Brushing only needs to happen twice a day, flossing once a day. You can fit that into your schedule. It’s for your own good. And it’s good for your health.
If Your Teeth Are Healthy, You Stay Healthy
Every food and drink that makes its way into your body goes through your mouth. It’s the gateway to your entire system, and it’s important to keep your teeth and gums clean and strong, especially now when it’s not easy to get to the dentist or keep your anticipated regular appointment.
Brushing and flossing helps prevent decay and infection, which means you’re less likely to need a filling or root canal therapy, extraction or other restorative dentistry.
Make your oral health a priority along with everything else you’re doing to stay healthy – getting rest, exercising, and eating as well as you can. If you have a dental emergency, contact Dr. Carole Sherrod Jewell or Dr. Pauline Robinson at Red Bank Dentistry in Red Bank, New Jersey. Stay healthy!
