Dental care, which courses are required and which are electives?

This is the 3362nd article of Da Yi Xiao Hu

In order to keep teeth healthy, people often use dental floss, mouthwash and water flossers in addition to brushing their teeth. However, do we really need to use all these methods to achieve the goal of dental care?

Dental care, these are compulsory courses

Brushing teeth, as a method of oral health care with a long history, is the most effective way to maintain oral hygiene and cleanliness. Although brushing teeth also has shortcomings, it is the best compared to other oral health care methods. Therefore, it has always been the first choice for oral health care, and has even become the basic treatment method for patients with periodontal disease. Correct brushing of teeth is a must for everyone to do a good job of oral health care, especially for patients with periodontitis.

As people's understanding of oral diseases continues to deepen, the use of dental floss has become one of the compulsory courses, because it can achieve the cleaning of teeth that a toothbrush cannot complete, and it is a beneficial and necessary supplement to brushing.

Under the premise of fully implementing the two measures of brushing teeth and using dental floss, oral diseases related to dental plaque - tooth decay and periodontitis - can mostly be effectively prevented.

Although brushing and flossing seem very different, they are essentially the same, both are mechanical methods of removing dental plaque. Teeth cleaning belongs to the same category.

Why are these electives?

In fact, in addition to mechanical methods, there are also chemical methods to control dental plaque. The most common method is to use mouthwash. Although mouthwash is simple and easy to use, and the effect may be immediate, it is not suitable as the first choice. This is mainly because: ① The antibacterial ingredients in many mouthwashes are often broad-spectrum drugs, which cannot kill bacteria in a targeted manner. Tooth decay and periodontitis are diseases caused by a certain type of oral bacteria becoming dominant bacteria-tooth decay is related to caries-causing bacteria, and periodontitis is related to periodontal pathogens. Therefore, mouthwash is not very meaningful in restoring the balance of oral microecology, and long-term use may cause new imbalances; ② Although mouthwash can control most dental plaque bacteria on the tooth surface, like brushing teeth, it cannot effectively control dental plaque bacteria in the gaps between teeth. Compared with the dental plaque bacteria trapped in the gaps between teeth, the antibacterial ingredients in mouthwash can only be a small witch compared to a big witch; ③ Chemical antibacterial methods are effective against free bacteria, but the effect on dental plaque bacteria is often greatly reduced. Therefore, the use of mouthwash is often only suitable as a stopgap measure and is naturally an elective course in dental care.

Using an oral irrigator to rinse teeth is also a mechanical cleaning method, but its effect in removing dental plaque and bacteria is very limited, far less than brushing and flossing. It is more used to remove soft scales and food residues, which is equivalent to an upgraded version of the mouthwash operation. Therefore, the health care effect of an oral irrigator should be based on brushing and flossing.

Properly handle the relationship between compulsory courses and elective courses

In summary, for most people, brushing teeth and flossing are necessary basic actions, which can be regarded as timely help for dental care. As long as the basics are laid firmly, most of the time it can meet the general dental care needs; while mouthwash and water flosser are non-essential reinforcement actions, which can be regarded as icing on the cake for dental care. However, if they are regarded as the first choice, it is putting the cart before the horse.

Now you know that although there are many ways to care for your teeth, they have their priorities. Properly handling the relationship between them is the basis of scientific tooth care.

Author: Shanghai Health and Health Development Research Center

rich