{"id":142,"date":"2016-10-03T14:58:08","date_gmt":"2016-10-03T14:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/?p=142"},"modified":"2016-10-28T15:03:47","modified_gmt":"2016-10-28T15:03:47","slug":"dentist-in-marietta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/dentist-in-marietta\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Everyday Hygiene from your Dentist in Marietta"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-143\" src=\"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/iStock_70349413_SMALL-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Tips for brushing and flossing from your dentist in Marietta.\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/iStock_70349413_SMALL-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/iStock_70349413_SMALL-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/iStock_70349413_SMALL.jpg 849w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>What is usually running through your mind as you are brushing your teeth? You\u2019re probably making your grocery list for the next day, trying to remember a song you heard, or thinking about work. October is actually National Dental Hygiene Month, and in honor of that, your dentist in Marietta from Elite Dentistry would like you to take a moment and think about your everyday dental hygiene. Here are some key tips to keeping your teeth healthy at home from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/about-us.html\">Drs. Ruth Clemans<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/dr-caitlin-mercke.html\">Caitlin Merke<\/a>.<!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>The Basics of Brushing<\/h2>\n<p>It probably feels like you\u2019ve always known how to brush your teeth. Much like walking and talking, you likely don\u2019t remember the effort it took to get you to learn. A quick chat with your parents will clearly reveal it was an involved process. Fast forward a few decades and you probably don\u2019t even think about it as you\u2019re doing it. You put the toothpaste on the brush and before you know it, you\u2019re in bed. Most adults are like this, and surprisingly, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.webmd.com\/oral-health\/features\/brushing-teeth-mistakes#1\" target=\"_blank\">most adults are brushing their teeth wrong<\/a> day after day. Brushing is one of the best things you can do to help keep your teeth healthy. It serves to break up and clean away the buildup of plaque and bacteria that occurs because of\u00a0the food we eat. A few basics of brushing that most people miss are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>You only need to brush twice a day<\/strong>: once in the morning and once at night. Too much brushing can be just as damaging to your teeth as too little, as it can wear down your tooth enamel.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brush for 2 minutes each time<\/strong>, Most people don\u2019t keep track of time when brushing, and therefore don\u2019t do it long enough. Try setting a timer on your phone.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Make sure to brush every surface of your teeth<\/strong>. People often miss large areas while they are mindlessly brushing. Be sure to brush the top, back, and front of each tooth. Also don\u2019t forget to brush along the gum line to prevent gum disease.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Try to brush in a gentle circling motion<\/strong>. It breaks up the plaque better than simply scrubbing back and forth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Brushing while keeping these tips in mind will help stop most dental issues before they start. Of course, brushing alone doesn\u2019t quite do the trick.<\/p>\n<h2>Frequent Flossing<\/h2>\n<p>Yes, you should floss every time you brush. It doesn\u2019t matter which order you do them in, just as long as you always do both. Flossing is able to reach surfaces of your teeth that brushing can\u2019t, namely the spaces between teeth. Some things to consider when flossing are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Use 12-18 inches<\/strong> of floss each time<\/li>\n<li><strong>Wrap the ends around the pointer fingers<\/strong> on each hand to create a bit of tension<\/li>\n<li><strong>Don\u2019t use too much force<\/strong>, it shouldn\u2019t require a lot of effort to move the floss between your teeth<\/li>\n<li><strong>Be sure to floss between every single tooth<\/strong>, and even behind the back teeth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you brush without flossing, you are leaving about 40% of your teeth\u2019s surfaces uncleaned, which leaves you vulnerable to tooth decay and gum disease. Flossing usually takes less than a minute, but can save you so much time in the dentist\u2019s chair.<\/p>\n<h2>Don\u2019t Forget About Us!<\/h2>\n<p>As important as your home routine is, you still <a href=\"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/preventive-dentistry.html\">need to come see us at Elite Dentistry<\/a> for a dental cleaning in Marietta at least twice a year. You simply can\u2019t reach every single surface on your teeth with brushing and flossing. That is where a professional cleaning from one of our team can help. It also gives us a chance to catch small dental issues before they become bigger ones. Prevention and early detection are the best tools we have in dentistry. Even though October is typically associated with Halloween and candy, just keep these simple tips in mind and you can smile confidently all the way through the holidays. Please <a href=\"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/contact-us.html\">call us if you want to know more<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is usually running through your mind as you are brushing your teeth? You\u2019re probably making your grocery list for the next day, trying to remember a song you heard, or thinking about work. October is actually National Dental Hygiene Month, and in honor of that, your dentist in Marietta from Elite Dentistry would like [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-142","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":145,"href":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142\/revisions\/145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.attractivesmiles.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}