Do any of your hobbies contribute to a healthy smile?
If you do yoga or other stress-reducing activities, then the answer is yes. We all know that brushing and flossing are the standard ways that we protect our teeth each day, but there are lots of indirect ways that we can benefit our smiles as well. Discover four habits that can truly make your smile shine.
The Power of Good Habits
In many ways, the habits we follow influence every part of our lives. If we do something positive, like say, take a fast-paced workout class at the gym, we’ll feel good for that day and our body will receive some small benefits. However, if we’re able to create a chain of workouts, three times per week for a month, for example, then the benefits will be far more substantial.
Therein lies the power of positive habits. While doing one yoga class will yield minimal results, committing to going to yoga daily and practicing at home will leave you limber, fit, and relaxed. Whatever your goal is, repeating positive actions until they’re second nature is the way to truly make a difference. Understanding the power of good habits will help you take many aspects of your life, including your smile, to heights you never thought possible.
Four Habits That Will Preserve Your Smile
Aside from brushing and flossing, what do you do in your daily life that affects your smile? While there are temporary enhancements you can make to your oral health, the real advantages come when those become habits. Explore four habits that will contribute to a healthy smile.
1. Take Some Interest and Pride in Your Oral Health
No one wants to think about their teeth on a constant basis, but it makes sense to take some active interest in the health of your smile. If you’re sitting with eyes-rolled, wondering why you’d ever do that, here are some excellent reasons:
- Taking better care of your smile today will save you money in the long run.
- If you care about your attractiveness, it’s worth it to care for your smile.
- Finding unique dental products can add fun to your routine.
- Enhancing your dental knowledge can help you and your family’s oral health.
How to Take an Active Interest in Your Oral Hygiene
Whether you value money, your looks, or simply love the feeling of a clean mouth, there are lots of good reasons to take an interest in your oral health. Ultimately, this means finding creative ways to improve your oral care process at home. Consider these ideas that can help you enhance your oral care routine in terms of both fun and effectiveness:
- Download a dental app such as Brush DJ to add fun to your experience.
- Try different types of toothbrushes, toothpaste, and mouthwashes.
- Consider splurging on a luxury dental product like COCOFLOSS.
- Experiment with electric flossers to see which is best for you.
Whichever way you choose to show more love for your smile, you won’t regret it. Time and money invested in your teeth now will mean less dental problems in the future.
2. Find Effective Ways to Relieve Stress
Believe it or not, stress can take a significant toll on your smile. Since most of us can’t avoid stress, the only option is to find effective ways to manage it each day. This isn’t only vital to our well-being, but to our oral health as well. Excess stress contributes to dental problems including gum disease, bruxism, TMJ disorder, and more, so finding ways to keep it under control is a necessity for a healthy smile. Dr. Darlene Hart confirms the damage stress can have on your smile:
“Stress plays a significant role in causing problems for your sleep and dental health.”
Which Habits Can Remove the Stress from Your Life?
Stress has a major effect on our bodies and affects nearly every aspect of our health. Luckily, hobbies like CrossFit, yoga, and transcendental meditation (TM) are excellent for clearing the tension out of your body so you can relax. No matter which method you choose for eliminating your daily stress, your oral health will be a lot better for it.
3. Ensure a Quality Brushing Session Each Time
Did you know that you’re supposed to brush your teeth for a full 2-minutes every time? Most Americans don’t do this, and will simply brush until they get bored, or deem that it’s good enough on their own. By not brushing long enough, you may be missing some crucial areas of your mouth, giving the plaque on your teeth the time it needs to harden into tartar.
How To Keep Yourself Honest When Brushing Your Teeth
Making it to 2-minutes may seem challenging when you’re not used to it, but these ideas will help you last for the full recommended time:
- Keep a small, manual timer in your bathroom.
- Every smartphone has a timer feature – simply set the stopwatch for 2-minutes.
- Most electric toothbrushes have a built-in, 2-minute timer.
- Apps like the Disney Magic Timer include a themed timer that counts 2-minutes.
Dental Sealants – An Extra Preventative Step
If you know that brushing for the full 2-minutes every time isn’t your strong suit, there’s a preventative treatment that may interest you. Dental sealants are a preventative dental treatment that involves a thin layer of plastic resin applied to the surface of your teeth. This lasts up to ten years and protects your teeth from cavities and decay. Speak to a dentist such as Dr. Silberstein in Boynton Beach, FL if you’re interested in this preventative treatment.
4. Know Your Options
If it’s been years since you’ve seen the dental treatments that are available, you may not even recognize some of the modern procedures that are available. For example, if you’ve lived your life with crooked teeth because you don’t want to commit to metal braces, treatments like Invisalign may be appealing to you since they allow you to straighten your teeth discreetly. No matter your dental needs, there may be superior options available that you may not know about.
Many Options for the Same Problem
With the plethora of treatments available in dentistry, there are often multiple solutions to the same problem. One area where this is particularly true is when a patient is missing teeth. Dentists like Dr. Sofia Napolitano in Staten Island can provide dentures, a dental bridge, or dental implants to fill in the gaps and restore your smile. Since this is often the case when it comes to dental problems, it pays to know your options and commit to the one that’s best for you.
Use the Power of Positive Habits to Improve Your Smile
When we do something once, that’s an excellent start, but when it becomes a habit that we do without thinking about it, we gain the power to change our lives for the better. By cultivating good dental habits, we stand a much better chance of keeping our smiles healthy throughout the entirety of our lives. Isn’t it worth it to begin an extra positive habit if the reward is a beautiful smile that you’re proud to show to the world?