It is normal for people to be sensitive about their oral care, however, some would focus on keeping their teeth healthy and neglect their gums. Remember that you can’t fully showcase a beautiful smile if you don’t take good care of your gums too. No matter how much you clean your teeth every day, there’s no way you can escape gum infection. Unlike your teeth, when you encounter problems with your gum, you are less likely to experience gum aches. If you do, there might be underlying serious gum disease.
What Is Gum Disease?
Gum disease or gingivitis is a gum infection that involves gum swelling and gum bleeding. Most people with gum disease have red or white gums that often result in bad breath. The odor is due to the blood being excreted by the gums. Early symptoms like the ones mentioned can be cured when attended to right away.
Gum infection is rampant but not everyone is aware of how to treat it. Delicious food can only be enjoyed if you have healthy teeth and gums so living your best life can’t be achieved if you have unhealthy gums. However, it’s never too late to prevent gum diseases because we have found the best ways you can do to take care of it. We also take into consideration the things that may affect your budget, so we made sure that everything presented here is affordable and can be easily accessed. Check them out below!
How to Take Care of Your Gums?
Quit Smoking
If you are a smoker, you may have noticed that the color of your gums is different from non-smokers. This is because the nicotine of the tobacco makes your gums and even your lips become dark. Some people would think that smoking will only cause bad breath and yellowish teeth. What they don’t know is that the use of tobacco makes their gum swelling, too. Aside from that, you are more likely to suffer gum disease because as you try to clench the tobacco in your teeth, your gums become smooth, causing gum swelling.
This is the cheapest way you can do to take care of your gums, it won’t even cause you a single cent, in fact, you can save more money. If you continue your smoking habit, your teeth will soon fall out, or worse you may experience gum infection. Don’t wait for this to happen because the bacteria in your gums may give you serious dental problems such as periodontitis that can no longer be cured according to in-depth research from PubMed.
Use Water Flosser Twice Per Day
Prevention is better than cure and this saying is very applicable in taking care of your gums. Brushing will never be enough if you don’t floss your teeth. Water flossing will reach the food particles that are stuck between your teeth that can’t be reached by mere brushing. So, how does flossing your teeth connected to taking care of your gums? Well, if you use a water flosser, your teeth will be cleaned so that the plaque and bacteria in your mouth will not have a chance to result in any gum disease. You can floss twice a day or every after a meal.
Moreover, we only recommend the use of a water flosser instead of the traditional flosser because the traditional one has higher chances of damaging your gums. If you accidentally pull the floss harshly in between your teeth, it will cause gum bleeding and may loosen your teeth. Whereas with a water flosser, you only have to let the streaming water clean the remaining debris in your mouth and it will automatically be cleaned. The best thing about water flossers is that they are more easy and safe to use.
A water flosser is something that you should always consider because according to a study conducted by dental practitioners, the way to prevent gum disease or gingivitis is to use both brushing and water flossing. If you are curious as to how to use a water flosser, you can check the demonstration video below.
Rinse with Salt Water
If you are used to gargling mouthwashes available on the market, it can be good because it kills the bad bacteria in your mouth that may cause gum disease, however, it also kills the good bacteria that is beneficial for your overall oral health care. It can also make your mouth dry if its ingredients involve alcohol. So, instead of mouthwash, we would like you to try the cheapest way of taking care of your gums by using salt water.
In this way, you no longer have to spend money on buying mouth care products like mouthwash, because you can easily make salt water in your home for free. Rinsing with salt water has been proven effective as a hygiene routine to prevent oral diseases with no side effects, unlike other mouthwashes. Here’s how you rinse your mouth with salt water.
- Boil one cup of water.
- Stir in half a teaspoon of salt and wait until it dissolves.
- Sip the salt water and hold it in your mouth. (Make sure that the temperature of salt water is not too hot.)
- Gargle or swirl the salt water around your mouth for 15-30 seconds.
- Spit out the salt water.
Buy Toothpaste with Fluoride
Brushing your teeth is the first step to take care of your gums to avoid gum aches and gum infections. However, you need to be picky as to the type of ingredients used in your toothpaste because they play a big role in making your mouth clean and healthy. You can’t just use toothpaste for the sake of brushing, because according to a study the effectiveness of fluoride in your toothpaste will prevent tooth decay more than the toothpaste with non-fluoride.
Furthermore, you should learn to brush your teeth smoothly because over brushing may damage your gums resulting in gum bleeding. For your toothbrush, choose the one which has soft bristles made of nylon so that it won’t be too harsh for your gums.
Conclusion
Investing some time to take care of your gums could mean a lot to your overall dental health. If you follow the ways we have presented above, it will save you from spending thousands of dollars treating gum disease as well as boosting more of your confidence with regards to your oral health that will affect your overall appearance as a person, partner, or employee.
One of the gum problems you may encounter if you don’t take care of your gums is a canker sore. If you happen to always have a canker sore, you better check out the best home remedies in getting rid of canker sores!
Disclaimer:
The content in this article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your health regimen. The author and publisher do not take responsibility for any consequences resulting from the information provided in this article.