As we eat sweet and starchy foods, it gives an opportunity for bacteria to wear down our tooth enamel. This outer shell that protects the inside of our tooth tends to demineralize through time and use. That is where remineralization comes in.
If you are looking to know more about how to take care of your teeth, then this is a good a start. It only makes sense to recover what you are losing! As if you let bacteria and plaque to eat away your enamel, then you will be at a pickle.
Remineralization, what do we need to know?
As our dentists from Los Algodones explain, it is normal for our teeth to lose some minerals throughout the day. After all, tooth remineralization is a natural process that happens every day in our lives.
The sugary and starchy bits of food stuck in our teeth aid bacteria production, which eat away our enamel. For this there are precautions and measures we must take, such as: brushing, flossing, making use of fluoride, drinking water, and more.
But good thing for us, there are plenty of ways to halt this! Making use of fluoride which can come from toothpaste, mouth rinses and tap water help greatly to regaining those minerals. Also by driving away dry mouth as saliva is essential to stop tooth decay.
How do we lose the minerals in our teeth?
Bacteria slowly uses the leftover foods in order to make plaque, which sticks to our teeth and damages them. This is what eats away the tooth enamel so the dentin and nerves get exposed to temperature and pressure.
Demineralization can happen from brushing too hard, from clenching our teeth, or it being weakened after a soda or anything acidic. As such, it is important to keep good oral habits in order to make the remineralization higher than the demineralization.
By losing minerals, we get subjected to many problems such as:
- Discoloration of teeth..
- Tooth sensitivity.
- Caries and cavities.
- Loss of teeth.
What to do in order to keep your tooth enamel healthy
Since you are constantly losing and gaining minerals, it is obvious we want to gain more at the end of the day. For this, we want to keep a good oral hygiene habit as well as some little tips:
- Do not slack off on brushing your teeth. Our Los Algodones dentists stress that brush ing twice is essential, mainly upon waking up and before hitting the bed. The reason behind this is that bacteria are left doing whatever they please for as long as we sleep.
- Also, remember to use a toothpaste with fluoride in it. Fluoride helps immensely at recovering the lost minerals.
- Use floss even if you are not good at it. Practice makes perfect, so do not worry! Dental floss helps getting to the narrow areas where the brush has a really difficult time getting to.
- Be mindful about what you consume throughout the day. Eating sweets and drinking soda is good from time to time, but if you are constantly at that, then the damage will be huge. Make sure to rinse your mouth every now and then and feel more than free to brush more than twice a day.
- Consider getting yourself a mouth rinse with therapeutic components. Mouth rinses are usually divided in two: therapeutic and cosmetic. The former will help you fix problems depending on the label, we recommend one with fluoride.
- Drink plenty of water! Drinking water replenishes your body and boosts your saliva production. Moreover, if it is tap water then there are chances it is fluoridated. Also helps rinsing your mouth from food bits.