Life is busy for many Reno 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 since the Clinton administration. Many important things get put on the back burner, but we urge you not to get careless about essential dental care.
Here are some common dental care shortcuts. Are you guilty of any of them?
Rushing Through Brushing
Your teeth deserve an attentive two minutes or more. Slow and methodical beats quick and dirty. Use a system 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 Notice a Problem
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 away with a toothbrush. Six-month cleanings help get rid of the calculus or tartar before it can damage 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 understand 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 high-priority area around and just below the gumline. We have seen patients who are observant floss pick users who developed decay in a minuscule crack the floss pick missed day after day.
At The Reno Dentist, we urge our patients to practice preventative dentistry to preserve their smiles for life. We offer the full spectrum of general and cosmetic dental procedures including restorative dentistry:
. For more information, call The Reno Dentist today at 775-323-0700 or visit https://therenodentist.com/about/our-doctors/.
Contact The Reno Dentist:
775-323-0700
Location (Tap to open in Google Maps):
855 W Seventh St Ste 200
Reno, Nevada
89503