Oral hygiene

Synonyms

dental care

introduction

The health and condition of the teeth and the teeth supporting apparatus influence the well-being in a decisive way. Carious defects the tooth substance and inflammatory processes in the area of ​​the gums, the Dental nerves or des Jawbone can have a negative effect on the entire organism. Especially the human heart is sensitive to high levels of germs resulting from the Oral cavity wash out, the result can often be inflammation of the heart tissue (for example endocarditis).

For this reason, regular and adequate oral hygiene is essential for health and should not be neglected.

Oral hygiene

Only with optimized oral hygiene can teeth and gums be kept healthy in the long term and a beautiful smile preserved. In addition to the quantity (frequency) However, the quality of daily teeth cleaning also plays a decisive role. On average, it is assumed that each toothbrushing unit takes about three minutes. However, this rule does not quite apply. When brushing your teeth in the morning and taking care of your teeth after meals, the use of a toothbrush is sufficient, so oral hygiene can be done adequately within three minutes.
In the evening, however, you should plan a little more time for oral hygiene, because in addition to cleaning the large tooth surfaces, cleaning the spaces between the teeth (lat. Interdental spaces) essential for long-term dental health.

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Oral hygiene with a toothbrush

When it comes to the question of how to use the toothbrush correctly, even expert opinions differ widely. Suitable toothbrushing techniques differ quite clearly from one another and sometimes contradict one another.
For this reason, it is obvious that the correct type of toothbrush use depends on the individual tooth position of each patient. Dentists therefore offer so-called prophylaxis appointments in which a suitable toothbrushing technique is simulated, trained and checked at regular intervals by using special coloring tablets. The most commonly recommended toothbrushing techniques with a manual toothbrush are the circular (circular) Brushing according to “Bass”, the so-called Charters method (particularly suitable for patients with gum disease) and vertical brushing according to “Stillman”.

In the course of the Bass toothbrushing technique, the bristle field is placed at an angle of approximately 45 ° to the gums. Half of the bristles come to rest on the gum or the surface of the tooth. Starting from this basic posture, small back and forth movements are performed.
This has the advantage that the bristles get a little way into the interdental spaces and can also remove soft deposits there. In the area of ​​the back of the tooth, oral hygiene is carried out by holding the toothbrush vertically and moving it along the tooth in shaking movements. This toothbrushing technique is particularly suitable for oral hygiene in patients with periodontal disease, because the loose contact between bristles and gums (lat. Gingiva) massages the gumline and stimulates blood circulation.

Tooth brushing technique according to Stillman In this form of oral hygiene, too, the bristle field is set at an angle of approximately 45 ° to the gums. Half of the bristles come to rest on the gum or the surface of the tooth.According to Stillman, however, starting from this basic position, the toothbrush should be rolled towards the tooth. This toothbrushing technique also massages the gums and stimulates their blood flow, but the disadvantage is the comparatively limited cleaning of the spaces between the teeth (Interdental spaces). The Stillman oral hygiene is particularly suitable for patients who suffer from receding gums.

Read more on this topic at: Toothbrushing Techniques

Toothbrushing technique according to Charters The toothbrushing technique according to Charters is basically less a real cleaning technique than a massage technique that can be used in addition to brushing your teeth. Especially patients with severe periodontal disease (after periodontal surgery) benefit from the positive effects of this type of oral hygiene. Even after charters, the bristle field should be directed at an angle of approximately 45 ° to the tooth axis. With this in mind, the bristle field is then moved from the chewing surface to the gums with light pressure. With small circular and shaking movements, an intensive massage of the gums takes place, which stimulates the blood circulation. The so-called is particularly suitable for children, but also for adults with ideal teeth

KAI method as a toothbrushing technique in the course of daily oral hygiene. With this method, the chewing surfaces are first cleaned, then the outer and inner surfaces of the teeth are thoroughly brushed. The respective tooth surface should be brushed with small, circular movements. However, since it can generally be assumed that oral hygiene can usually be carried out more thoroughly and, above all, gentler on the gums when using an electric toothbrush, most dentists now recommend switching away from the manual toothbrush.

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Oral hygiene of the interdental spaces

For complete cleaning of the interdental spaces (lat. Interdental spaces) In addition to using a normal toothbrush, an interdental brush (Interdental brush) or floss can be used.
This is due to the fact that the bristles of a toothbrush are not able to penetrate into the deepest furrows of the interdental spaces, despite the greatest efforts, and for this reason plaque settles in such areas and hardens to tartar.

If the teeth are badly misaligned, this problem increases, and the result is often inflammation of the gums or tooth decay. The interdental spaces should be cleaned before the actual teeth brushing, because this ensures that the loosened plaque can then really be completely removed with the toothbrush. Interdental brushes are produced in a wide variety of shapes, the most common are the Christmas tree brushes and straight, flexible interdental brushes. The appropriate size can be determined by the treating dentist with a so-called IAP measuring probe (Interdental Access Probing). This is very important, because an interdental brush that is too small does not clean enough and a too large one either does not fit or can damage the gums. Especially for patients who are undergoing orthodontic treatment and who wear fixed braces, interdental brushes are indispensable in daily oral hygiene. In such cases, using dental floss is usually too complicated and the cleaning effect is therefore insufficient.

Mouthwash

A mouthwash alone cannot prevent tooth decay or periodontal disease. The mouth rinse is a supplement to daily oral hygiene. There are various differences between the mouth rinses in terms of their function. There are mouth rinses to support dental hygiene, to suppress various germs that cause illness or those that only create fresh breath. To improve oral hygiene, mouthwashes with bactericidal and mineralizing ingredients are recommended. These include, for example, tin fluoride or chlorhexidine. A mouth rinse cannot completely remove the plaque on the teeth, but it can reduce it and thus have a positive effect on oral hygiene. In any case, you should seek advice from the treating dentist regarding the recommended ingredients. Depending on the indication, the corresponding mouthwash may differ in terms of the ingredients.

Determination of the oral hygiene status

The oral hygiene status describes the current state of your own oral hygiene. It consists of so-called indices that record the presence of plaque (microbial plaque) and inflammation of the gingiva (gums).

Read more on the topic: Inflammation of the gums

The plaque index provides a snapshot of the success of brushing your teeth. The gingiva index, on the other hand, provides information about general oral hygiene over a longer period of time. The signs of inflammation recorded in the Gingiva Index only become apparent after several days of very poor oral hygiene. Oral hygiene status is part of dental treatment. In order to determine part of the oral hygiene status yourself, you can stain your teeth with a special staining solution available from pharmacies and then rinse your mouth. The special solution only stains the plaque-infected areas on the teeth. It is very difficult to determine the exact value of the plaque index, as this is calculated by area and the deposits are mostly in the interdental spaces. However, staining can give you a first impression of your own teeth brushing behavior. The gingiva indices primarily record the bleeding behavior of the gums when touched with a special probe (WHO probe). The entire oral hygiene status should be recorded by the dentist and the risk of developing periodontitis should be assessed.