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Health Plans
Copyright 2005 Dave Markel
Choosing a health insurance plan that is best for you and your
family is one of the most important decisions you'll ever make.
Choosing between health plans is not as easy as it once was.
Although there is no one...
Medieval Remedies That Still Work Today
Copyright 2005 by Doug Smith Home Remedies - Facts or Quacks? In a previous article we looked at several possible definitions of a home remedy, and patched together a definition that met our mental image of such a remedy. If you missed it, here’s...
Meditation: Why Meditation And How Does It Help
The stressful lives we lead today take their toll on our health.
Mental stress and physical fatigue drain us of our positive
energy leaving us depleted physically, mentally and emotionally.
Considered to be part of alternative medicine,...
MORE ON GOALSETTING and GOAL ACHIEVING: The technique of Visualisation
As I mentioned in Part One in controlling our thoughts and attitudes, visualisation is a great help in setting your personal goals. Use it as a tool, be persistent, like a yappy dog biting at your ankles and you'll get there in the end. (That's a...
Your Dentist the Artist? You Better Believe It!
Washington, DC—Dentists designing “smile makeovers” ( http://www.washdent.com ) are in demand for more than their technical skill in placing crowns ( http://www.washdent.com/proc_crowns.html ), veneers ( http://www.washdent.com/proc_veneers.html...
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Ten Sure-Fire Tips For Avoiding Plaque
We can all use some foolproof tips for avoiding plaque. Plaque is an aggregation of harmful bacteria that collects on our teeth and gums, showing up as a fuzzy, whitish coating near the gum line. If plaque is allowed to build up and isn’t removed on a regular basis, it inevitably leads to tooth decay and gum disease.
So that said, here are ten surefire tips to avoid plaque build-up and enjoy a fresher, healthier mouth.
1. Brush at least twice a day to avoid plaque.
Use a small, circular motion and be sure to brush each individual tooth on all sides. Pay special attention to back teeth which may be harder to reach. Make a difficult job easier with one of the new electric or battery-powered toothbrushes, and brush for a full 30 seconds ... not just until your mouth fills up with foam, a common mistake. If bacteria is a real problem, look into the new high-end, rotating "plaque remover" electric toothbrushes.
2. Remove more plaque by brushing your gums.
Using a soft tooth brush, gently brush your gums as well as your teeth to avoid plaque. Hint: Lift your lips from your gums in order to better reach plaque collecting in the crevices. For super-powered gum cleaning, use one of the water picks or oral irrigators available on the market.
3. Don't forget to brush your tongue to help avoid plaque and bad breath.
The tongue is simply filled with tiny crevices where plaque and bacteria collect. Although brushing your tongue may feel odd at first, neglecting to do so may leave as much as 50% of the bacterial-causing plaque still in your mouth.
4. Floss daily to avoid plaque build-up between teeth.
Your tooth brush simply
can't reach all the plaque between your teeth, so flossing is necessary to avoid plaque build-up.
5. Avoid between-meal snacks, since sugar feeds the bacteria that causes plaque.
Bacterial does its worst damage within about ten minutes after a meal or snack. Most people don't brush after every snack -- and invasive sugar comes in the form of foods like fruit (fructose) and milk (lactose), not just candy and soda.
6. Drinking water washes bacteria from your mouth, helping to avoid plaque.
Drink plenty of water after a meal or a snack, swishing it around a bit, and you've improved your odds against oral bacterial already.
Want to test your brushing technique and learn how to better avoid plaque? Try this:
1. Add a few drops of food coloring to a small amount of water.
2. Brush your teeth as you normally would, then rinse your mouth with the colored water.
3. Now look for the areas where food coloring still clings to your teeth, tongue and gums. The food coloring has colored all the plaque you missed!
4. Brush again to remove all the colored areas. Next time you brush, you'll be more aware of your problem areas and better avoid plaque build-up.
As you can see, there are a number of tips sure to aid you in the fight against plaque. Adding just one or two at a time to your dental routine is sure to improve your odds against plaque -- and your oral health.
About The Author
Blake Kritzberg is proprietor of CuresForBadBreath. Stop by http://www.curesforbadbreath.com/ to learn more about bad breath cures and how to prevent bad breath.
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