Adequate Dental Care

Our teeth were designed to last a lifetime – for humans who ate natural foods and had shorter lifespans.  The modern diet of processed and sugary foods, combined with longer life expectancies, means we need to take extra care of our teeth if we wish to keep them into old age.

Only recently have doctors realized just how important oral hygiene is to our overall health.  Gum disease is, in fact, more serious than most people think, and more serious than tooth decay.  Many more teeth are lost through gum disease than through tooth decay.  Gum disease has also been positively linked with an increased risk of serious disorders such as heart disease and diabetes.

Function

Proper dental care includes:-

• Visiting a dental care provider on a regular basis for a checkup and cleaning
• Flossing daily
• Brushing teeth at least twice daily with a fluoride*-containing toothpaste
• Appropriate use of fluoride for caries prevention
• Chemotherapeutic mouth rinses for plaque prevention.

*Although many people are personally opposed to using fluoride, these are the current US government recommendations.