Life is chaotic for many Arlington residents. At times, it’s impossible to get all the “gotta do’s” done, and many are postponed or dropped altogether.
Sometimes your car has to wait another 500 miles for an oil change. Or you are a month late replacing your furnace filter. Or you realize that you’ve had a leaky faucet for as long as you can remember.
Many important things get put on the back burner, but we plead with you not to disregard essential dental care. At Stephen Ratcliff Family & Cosmetic Dentistry, we encourage our patients to practice preventative dentistry to safeguard their smiles for life.
Here are some prevalent dental care shortcuts. Are you guilty of any of them?
Rushing Through Brushing
Your teeth deserve a careful two minutes or more. Slow and methodical beats quick and dirty. Use a method to make sure you get every tooth. Playing one of your favorite two- or three-minute songs may help you go the distance.
Only Seeing Your Dentist When You Feel a Toothache
We hope none of our patients put off examinations and cleanings. When you feel tooth pain, it may be way too late to prevent a filling or even a root canal.
Neglecting Professional Cleanings
When softer plaque turns to calculus, you can’t brush it off with a toothbrush. Six-month cleanings help get rid of the calculus or tartar before it can weaken your enamel or irritate your gums.
Using Floss Picks Instead of Dental Floss
While it’s better to floss with a floss pick than to not floss at all, it’s important to know that floss picks can only clean a part of the tooth’s surface. A floss pick holds just a small length of floss stretched in a straight line. Looking down, a tooth is shaped somewhat round or oval.
A straight piece of floss just doesn’t make sense geometrically because it doesn’t conform to the shape of the tooth as well as traditional floss. When you wrap a string of floss completely around the circumference of a tooth, you can more thoroughly clean that vital area around and just below the gumline. We have seen patients who are dutiful floss pick users who developed decay in a very small crack the floss pick bypassed day after day.
CONTACT STEPHEN RATCLIFF FAMILY & COSMETIC DENTISTRY:
817-274-7875
LOCATION (TAP TO OPEN IN GOOGLE MAPS):
909 W Mitchell St
Arlington, Texas
76013
