hi, i'm katrina szish for howdini. today we're going to find outhow to get a healthy mouth in just three steps. to do that, i'm joined by dr. briankantor, cosmetic dentist. nice to see you, brian. nice to see you. how are you? i'm great. now, i want to dive right in, though.
what are some of the keys to maintaininga healthy mouth? you know, today, having a healthy mouthis more important than ever. actually having a healthy mouth canlead to having a healthier body. it's more important than ever totake good care of your mouth. so what i tell all of my patientsis to have three easy steps-- a good diet, see your dentist twicea year regularly for cleanings and checkups, and to havegood oral hygiene. ok, now let's focus a littlebit on good oral hygiene-- brushing, flossing, mouthwash.
is there an order? well, the most important thing, yes,is brushing twice a day, flossing twice a day, and rinsingwith mouthwash. i say brushing and flossing, you canpick whichever one you want to do. and then you should end with rinsingwith mouthwash because it washes it away and actually leaves youwith fresh minty breath. i love fresh minty breath. ok, toothbrushes. some people swear by their electrictoothbrush, and they say it does a
better job than a manual toothbrush. is that true? well, actually, whateverworks for you. i say to the patient, whateverworks for you, you can use, manual or electric. the beauty of the electric toothbrushis it does some of the work for you. there's a timer. it makes sure you brush each quadrant--there are four quadrants-- for 30 seconds each.
so it times you, and at two minutes, itbeeps, so it knows you've actually done a thorough job. the manual toothbrush you actually haveto do manually with no timer. oh no! it requires a little more effort, butif you feel comfortable with it, that's great. but the most important thing, no matterif it's manual, electric, battery powered, is the bristles. it has to have soft bristles.
there's soft, medium, and hard. so when you're shopping,you should look for-- i guess it says soft bristles? soft, yes, absolutely. it's imperative. speaking of shopping for tooth-brushingproducts, toothpaste. there are so many out there. does it really matterwhich one i choose? yes.
the most important ingredient intoothpaste is it has fluoride. fluoride will actually-- it helpsremineralize the enamel, so it makes the teeth healthier. so the most important ingredientin the toothpaste is fluoride. most toothpastes have fluoride,but make sure it has it. there are a lot of other ingredientsthat some toothpastes have, and you have to pick and choose whatworks best for you. there are some that a minty fresh. for people with bad breath, theyget more of a minty taste.
there are some that hasantisensitivity. for people with sensitive teeth or gumsthat have receded, they want a toothpaste that actually helpsdecrease the sensitivity. there's also whitening toothpastes,which help remove surface stain a little better than theother toothpastes. so you really have to seewhat works best for you. so shop around a little bit. try them out. i would say buy a few.
see what works best for you, what tastesbest, what you like to use, and go with that toothpaste. ok, now when it comes to taste, i thinkof mouthwash, and we love the residual effect, thatfresh minty breath. but sometimes, mouthwashes burn. now, why do they burn, anddo they need to burn? does that mean they'redoing a good job? no, the burning does not meanit's doing a good job. the burning is the alcoholin the mouthwash.
it's not an active ingredient. all it does is it's a bindingagent for the mouthwash. ok, fantastic. now, flossing, of course, isone of those key things. and it goes way beyond just removingthose food particles from between the teeth. flossing is imperative. the teeth have a lot of surface area, alot of hard-to-get places, and food gets trapped all over.
and you have to really get all the foodout, because the food accumulates bacteria, and the bacteria causebad breath and decay. so flossing actually gets in between theteeth and gets the food particles out, and it also getsunderneath the gums. now, there's different types of floss,and you can use what's best for you. there's a waxed floss. people with very tight contacts, so inthe back of your mouth, the posterior, some of those molars are really tighttogether, and it's hard to get regular floss in there.
so that person should use waxedfalse because the wax actually gets in there easier. it slips in there, and it'seasier to get through. so again, you should try differenttypes of floss and see what works best for you. ok, now flossing, though, of course,some people think, eh, i can do it once a week. but you say twice a day for flossing. the three most important parts ofyour oral hygiene is having--
brushing twice a day-- minimum-- flossing twice a day, and rinsing withmouth rinse twice a day as well. ok, now, of course, one of the mostimportant parts is coming to see the dentist. how often shouldwe come see you? twice a year. if you have the best oral hygiene in theworld, you still have to come see a dentist. it's important to have aprofessional cleaning and to get examined by a dentist. there are a lotof infections and diseases that actually show signs in the oral cavitybefore it spreads elsewhere--
oral cancer, leukemia, hiv. these allshows signs and symptoms in the mouth. so the dentist is almost like adetective and can detect some of these symptoms before it becomes a problem. ok, well, thanks so much forjoining us, dr. kantor. i think i'm ready to go floss. how about you? thanks. thank you. to recap, you need to get a goodtoothbrush, an electric, like this
one, or there's lower-cost options, likethis battery powered or manual one, and change them outevery three months. toothpaste. the must-haves are cavityfighting with fluoride. but today you can also get toothpaste towhiten, to fight gingivitis, or for sensitive teeth. so talk to your dentist about yourneeds and spend a little time in-store or online. try a few out and see whatworks best for you.
the floss. remember to floss below the gumline where the bacteria live. mouthwash. it can do more than justfreshen your breath. it can help kill germs that causeplaque, gingivitis, and bad breath. use it twice a day, morning and night. on behalf of crest, i'm katrinaszish for howdini. for more information, checkout the website.
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