We often tend to ignore our mouth under the pretext that it is not directly related to our overall health. But, did you know that the condition of your mouth reflects on your overall health? You might be unaware of this fact, but gums are important for the overall growth and development of teeth. The strength and durability of your teeth depend on how healthy your gums are. Gums get affected due to various reasons like lack of oral hygiene, poor diet, etc. And if left untreated can create serious problems like tooth decay or even loose teeth! Let’s understand how inadequate attention affects gum conditions, and how is an unhealthy lifestyle affecting your gums?
- Lack of regular cleaning: One thing that you must always remember while brushing is that the bristles reach deep inside your gums and clean them away. But when you don’t brush twice a day, there might be some accumulation of bacteria which may affect your teeth and gums badly.
- Improper diet: What we eat plays an important role in keeping our gums healthy or not! Foods like sugar and carbohydrates lead to plaque formation and if it’s not removed on time, it can lead to serious conditions like tooth decay and gum recession. This condition can be easily prevented by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and mouth hygiene.
- Smoking: Smoking has been found to create many health hazards including poor oral health causing tooth loss, cavities, gum diseases, etc.
- Stress: Stress is one of the most common culprits for poor oral hygiene. It keeps our mouth dry and affects the production of saliva which is very important for protection against bacteria.
- Aging: Our gums tend to weaken as we age. This results in loss of tissue around the teeth leading them to become loose, eventually falling off or even causing tooth decay if not treated at an early stage.
- Medications: If you are on medications, they can have an adverse effect on your gums and surrounding tissue.
- Hormonal imbalances: Hormonal imbalance during pregnancy or puberty can cause gum problems by promoting plaque formation around teeth and in the gums area.
- Use of low-quality toothpaste: Make sure to use fluoride-containing toothpaste. Fluoride prevents cavities and promotes good oral health when used regularly.
- Family history: As we know that almost 30% of people who suffer from gum disease also have family members suffering from it, so be aware of any such member in your family tree because genes play a major role in determining how much stress you can bear before getting affected by gum disease! So you need to change your lifestyle and eating habits if there is anyone in the family who has gum disease.
Prevention is better than cure, that’s what they say! So always maintain good oral hygiene for a healthy heart and mind. What lifestyle should we adapt to, to have healthy gums?
Is an Unhealthy Lifestyle Affecting Your Gums? You Know the Answer. It Is!
A large part of having healthy gums is avoiding things that negatively affect our oral health. This includes smoking and eating foods that lead to plaque formation. We also need to brush twice a day, maintain a healthy lifestyle, and be mindful of stress levels.
Sometimes we can’t avoid these problems – for instance, if we have to smoke or eat food with sugar or carbs – so it’s important to have a dentist check up on us regularly to catch problems early on.
Getting regular dental check-ups will ensure that any developing problem is detected as soon as possible. Here are some tips to keep your gums healthy:
- Brush your teeth twice a day using fluoride toothpaste for at least two minutes each time. It is also advisable to use a soft-bristled brush and instead of scrubbing, use small circular motions when brushing.
- Floss once daily, preferably at night before going to bed.
- Maintain a low-carbohydrate diet which helps in developing good oral health.
- Practice proper oral hygiene by regularly cleaning your teeth, tongue, etc.
- Visit the dentist once every six months for check-ups and cleanings.
- If you have gum disease, follow the dentist’s advice and complete your treatment.
- Take a diet rich in calcium which helps in keeping gums healthy.
By now you must have understood how is an unhealthy lifestyle affects your gums and why you should always practice oral hygiene. You need to brush with special fluoride toothpaste twice a day, ideally when you get up in the morning and before going to bed at night.
You should also floss your teeth once a day if possible. It’s also important that you start taking good care of your gums from an early age. This means not allowing habits like thumb sucking or nail biting to become established.
That’s what should be taught to babies and children. It’s not easy to stop those habits, later on, so you should try and avoid them in the first place.
A healthy lifestyle leads to healthier gums, so do not smoke! Try to avoid sugary foods as much as possible, since these are the cause of many dental problems. Also, try to stay away from stress!
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