It probably won't surprise you to learn that keeping your gums healthy requires many of the same steps as keeping your teeth healthy.
Taking care of your teeth goes hand in hand with taking care of your gums. You may already understand how the following habits help your teeth, but here’s how they keep your gums healthy, as well.
Daily Flossing
Flossing ranks just above brushing your teeth when it comes to your gum health. Daily flossing allows you to clean out the crevices between your teeth and gums that your toothbrush can’t reach.
Flossing prevents plaque from building up in tight areas, which might otherwise lead to gum disease.
Brushing
Brushing the plaque off of your teeth helps keep it off your gums, too. Plaque buildup is especially abundant along the gum line. So, when you’re brushing your teeth be sure sure that your toothbrush moves over your gums as well.
Professional Cleanings & Checkups
Provided that you see them regularly, your dentist can detect gum disease symptoms early. You should be visiting the dentist for a cleaning and checkup every six months, so that developing problems can be treated before they become serious.
Professional cleanings are the only way to remove tartar (hardened dental plaque). Regardless of how vigilant as you are about brushing and flossing, tartar will still eventually build up, and it needs to be removed by a dental professional.
Quit Smoking
Smoking is strongly linked with the onset of gum disease! Smoking weakens your immune system, and this makes it harder to fight off a gum infection. Smoking also makes it more difficult for your gums to heal once they’ve been damaged.