Every time our picture is being clicked we pose with a cheesy smile. When we look back at the picture we would look for our happy teeth in it. It is important to have healthy teeth for a happy smile.

So how do we do it?

Here are few simple tips in creating your happy smile by maintaining ur teeth healthy:

  1. Brush your teeth twice a day, most of u do brush in the morning but skip brushing before bed time. Bacterial activity is to the maximum in the night with saliva secretion being minimum during the sleep which becomes a more hospitable environment for the bacteria to thrive. Brushing all the surfaces takes a minimum of 2 to 3 minutes so please spend time in doing so. Use a fluoride containing tooth paste with soft bristled tooth brush. Keep your brush clean. Capping your brush when wet is detrimental as bacteria reproduces in moist environment. Store your brush 6 ft away from your toilet to avoid bacteria from toilet flushing reaching your bristles.

  2. Flossing – Learn to floss your teeth, please ask your dentist to teach about flossing. If you are not flossing, you are missing cleaning 35 to 40% of your tooth surfaces. Brushing cleans the surfaces but flossing cleans the surface between two teeth which is more decay prone zone.

  3. Eat right - It is just not brushing and flossing but also eating healthy food plays a pivotal role in keeping our teeth clean. The best food for healthy teeth include cheese, nuts and milk as they are thought to protect tooth enamel by providing calcium and phosphorous needed to remineralise teeth. Secondly, including plenty of fruits and vegetables in our diet stimulates the saliva flow and high water content from fruits dilutes the effects of sugars. Stay away from carbonated drinks as the acid content in them is highly detrimental to teeth enamel.

The key to healthy teeth and happy smile is brushing twice a day, flossing and eating healthy food.