Why is it so important to brush our teeth? Dr Martin Vale has been a Bendigo Dentist for more than 40 years and explains why the simple task of brushing your teeth twice daily will not only keep your breath fresh, teeth healthy and away from painful emergency dental services, it’s also imperative for a long and healthy life.
We all know that brushing our teeth twice a day and making sure we visit the dentist twice a year makes your mouth feel nicer and keeps our teeth healthier; but did you know, it could help you to live longer, and live healthier for longer.
It’s true. Whilst tooth brushing removes the germs that stick to our teeth, do you know where on the tooth most of these germs stick to?
This very important location is the gum-line of the tooth. Imagine this, draw a line around the tooth where the gum and the tooth meet – don’t forget to add the part of the tooth that faces the next tooth, in front and behind – you have four distinct lines forming a rectangle.
Germs that are allowed to stay on this part of the tooth are very close to the gum. They are able to move from our mouth and into our blood stream through this close contact.
This is an important contributor to the quality of our health, as once in the blood stream the germs become a chronic irritant to our immune system. Put simply, our immune system doesn’t need to be constantly distracted by managing this irritation, as we need it to concentrate on defending us from more direct health threats such as cancer and unavoidable infections.
But why is our gum line is such a reservoir for germs?
Our mouth and teeth are cleverly designed to have self-cleaning potential. The natural movement of foods and fluids over our teeth and the friction produced from our lips and tongue against the teeth, cleans most of the tooth surface. However, the gum line is shielded from this effect. This is why your dentist always advises you to brush your gums thoroughly too.
We can all use this knowledge to improve our own, and our family’s long term health. Teaching your kids the basics of important children’s dental habits and demonstrating sound, regular gum line cleaning and professional teeth cleaning by your dentist (twice yearly at least) will have a long term positive effect on your overall wellbeing and longevity.
If you have any questions about our dental services please call our family dental clinic on 54435006. As Bendigo’s emergency dentist, we can support your emergency dental concerns out of hours too, with our 24/7 emergency appointments.
