4 Best Practices to Prevent Gum Disease

Let’s kick off this discussion with some eye-opening statistics to get your attention: First, 178 million Americans are missing at least one tooth, and 40 million are missing all of their teeth. Second, gum disease and tooth decay are the leading drivers of tooth loss. Lastly, nearly half of adults age 30 and older in the United States have gum disease.

When you put all this together, there’s only one conclusion — it’s essential to do what you can to prevent gum disease (periodontitis). 

And we’re here to help with that. At Pure Smiles, Dr. Leila Shahbazi and our team take preventive dentistry very seriously, and we want to provide you with four great tips that will go a long way toward preventing gum disease.

1. Brush, floss, rinse, and repeat

Let’s start with a little recap about how to best care for your teeth and gums at home. Ideally, we want you to brush at least twice daily, floss once, and rinse after each. 

Brushing after every meal is even better, but we understand that our lives are busy. So, get the morning and before-bed brush and floss in.

Please use a soft bristle brush because we don’t want you to damage your gums when you brush along your gum line to remove any bacteria-harboring plaque.

2. Quit smoking

If you smoke, we’re adding this to the very long list of reasons you should quit. Smokers have twice the risk for periodontitis as nonsmokers because smoking weakens your immune system.

When we say smoking, we’re referring to any tobacco product, so this warning includes cigars, chewing tobacco, and pipe smoking.

3. Rinse after eating and drinking

A great way to keep your gums and teeth free of plaque is to remove food as quickly as possible after you eat. So, a great practice is to rinse your mouth out with water (or mouthwash) after every meal or sweetened beverage. 

As a bonus, rinsing after a cup of coffee, tea, or colored drink can also prevent stains from forming in your teeth.

4. Come to us regularly for teeth cleaning

Gum disease is progressive and, in its earliest stage — gingivitis — your gums become a little swollen where they meet your teeth. When you come in for your professional teeth cleaning, we can stop gingivitis before the bacteria make their way too far up under your gums.

Our advanced cleaning techniques blast away plaque and tartar from your teeth, which can reverse gum disease.

To stay one step ahead of periodontitis, we recommend seeing us twice yearly for your professional cleanings. We can keep gum disease at bay and polish and brighten your teeth during your visit, giving you lots to smile about.

If you have more questions about gum disease prevention or want to schedule your cleaning today, please contact our office in Scottsdale, Arizona, to make an appointment.