Preventative dentistry, consists of maintaining great oral hygiene and addressing dental health issues before they become problems. At eDental, many of our regular patients start off receiving emergency dental services and transition into regular patients.
Sadly, as many as 80% of our emergency patients didn’t have to be emergency patients if they had seen us for preventative dentistry first. We would like to tell you how to promote great oral hygiene and keep most dental emergencies from occurring.
How to Avoid Needing Emergency Dental Services
We were recently looking at clinical guidelines from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) for recommending oral hygiene as a preventative to dental caries. While they aren’t dentists, they are medical professionals and their work is impressive.
Here are the RACGP’s Preferred Recommendations on Oral Hygiene.
- Avoid Snacks and Drinks that Have High Levels of Acid or Carbohydrates. This Means Soft Drinks, Candy, Cake, Cookies and Juices Such as Orange Juice. It is Even More Dangerous to Your Teeth to Have Them Between Meals.
- Don’t Give a Baby a Bottle at Night That Contains Anything But Water.
- Brush Your Teeth at Least Twice Every Day With a Toothpaste that Contains Fluoride.
- Chew Sugar-Free Gum to Help Stimulate the Production of Saliva, Which Helps Prevent Plaque From Forming.
- Use a Mouthguard for all Sports that Involve Physical Contact.
- Have Regular Checkups.
Why These Dental Recommendations Work?
Acids, such as the citric acid in orange juice, can erode the enamel from your teeth, providing a gateway for the formation of cavities. Sugar is bad because the bacteria in plaque use sugar to produce acids.
We have covered these processes in depth elsewhere on our blog. The bottom line for you is that if you just follow these simple rules, you will be a lot less likely to have a dental emergency because the regular checkups and good oral hygiene will allow us to find problems before they become emergencies.
To learn more, call eDental today: 1300 467 112
eDental are a leading Dentist, open 7 days a week from 8am – 8pm. You can book a dental appointment online, or phone us instead.
