Do you have naturally healthy teeth or have you had costly dental treatments in order to fix them? If you wish to keep your teeth, gums, temporomandibular joint healthy, then you must know that you are responsible for their health.

Rule no. 1: Do not crush hard foods between your teeth, do not eat bones, nut shells, pistachios, pencils, etc. There is the risk of breaking your teeth, of ending up with cracks, leading, over time, to a fracture, of detaching your fillings and chipping your porcelain prostheses.

Rule no. 2: Do not consume carbonated drinks frequently. They contain acids and sugar, which dissolve the enamel, decalcify the tooth and cause tooth sensitivity and cavities. Fillings are also damaged by the ‘acid bath’, becoming porous and stained. Replace them with water, natural juice (avoid citrus fruits), refrain from flushing the juice around your mouth, drink it quickly and through a straw, in order to shorten the contact with the teeth.

Rule no. 3:The oral cavity hygiene must be thorough, consistent, daily, without pauses. Besides from using a toothbrush, using floss for cleaning the area between the teeth, where the toothbrush is ineffective, is mandatory. Professional cleaning should be done at least yearly, even more frequent for certain patients. Deposited tartar cannot be removed at home, through brushing, and is a source of bacteria that causes tooth and gum disease.

Rule no. 4: Do not smoke. Besides from the harmful effect on the entire body, nicotine negatively affects the gums, increasing the risk of periodontal disease and tooth loss. Cigarette smoke causes unaesthetic tooth stains on natural teeth, but also on fillings. Smoking favors the occurrence of tartar, the proliferation of mouth bacteria, bad breath. Over 90% of the patients with mouth cancer are smokers.

Rule no. 5: Dental checkup every 6 months, in order to detect lesions in early stages and treat them as conservatively as possible, without significant dental tissue loss! A small cavity is much easier and cheaper to treat than a tooth requiring the removal of a nerve, infected by a deep cavity.