Brushing your teeth might feel like a bothersome chore but it’s essential to your oral and overall health. Nearly one-third of Americans don’t brush their teeth twice a day, and one-third never floss their teeth. These statistics explain why nearly half of adults in the US have some form of gum disease. Gum disease can increase your risk for heart problems and lead to tooth loss. The best way to prevent gum disease? Brush your teeth!
With that said, there are a lot of reasons why you shouldn’t forget to brush your teeth. Instead, here are 13 reasons why you should run to the bathroom and brush your teeth twice a day.
1. Help Your Teeth Feel Clean
You know the feeling of fuzzy teeth. That doesn’t feel good, does it? By rubbing your tongue against your teeth, you can easily identify if there is plaque buildup. If your teeth feel fuzzy, that’s the feeling of plaque! Brushing your teeth will give you that clean feeling you love. If you shower every day to feel and smell clean, why wouldn’t you give your teeth the same attention?
2. Protect Teeth from Decay
You know the plaque on your teeth that you feel with your tongue? The longer you leave it on your teeth, the more damage it can do to your teeth. The more time you spend avoiding brushing, the more time the bacteria in plaque have to spread acid all over your teeth and damage them, leading to cavities.
3. Reduce Risk of Gum Disease
The acid from plaque bacteria won’t just harm your teeth, but also your gums. When the bacteria builds up along the gum line and under the gums, inflammation will occur. Without early intervention, the inflammation and infection will only get worse and result in gum disease. Signs of gum disease include red or bleeding gums, receding gums, puffy swollen gums, bad breath, pus between teeth, and more. If you don’t seek treatment, the gum disease will result in bone loss and tooth loss.
4. Remove Food Particles from Teeth
Don’t you hate having a parsley leaf stuck in your teeth? Or one of those little broccoli podlets? It feels gross and if someone notices it, you might feel embarrassed. Brushing your teeth is a great way to get rid of those things so you have a smile that looks as clean as it feels.
5. Avoid Bad Breath
Food particles stuck to your teeth don’t just look bad, they can smell bad, too. That’s because they’re just rotting there on your teeth. You don’t want to have rotten food breath, right? If you want to maintain minty fresh breath, don’t put off brushing your teeth.
6. Avoid Morning Breath
When you brush your teeth, you aren’t just removing food particles that can cause bad breath. You’re also removing the bacteria that cause bad breath. Overnight, bacteria can build up in your mouth and that’s what can give you bad morning breath. Although you will still need to brush your teeth in the morning for fresh breath, your morning breath won’t smell as bad as it used to if you brush before bed.
7. Cut Off Snacking
If you have the urge to snack at night and one snack turns into another even though you’re not hungry, brushing your teeth can help you stop nightly snacking. After you brush your teeth, you won’t want to snack because it will ruin the taste of your snack and then you will have to brush your teeth again before going to sleep.
8. The Sooner You Brush, the Sooner You Can Floss
We know, you probably hate flossing more than brushing. But the sooner you get it done, the less time you spend dreading it. By brushing and flossing regularly, you can enjoy healthy teeth and gums and fresh breath!
9. Have a Meditative Moment
Toothbrushing can be a great way to practice your mindfulness. It’s a way to focus on the day behind you, prepare yourself for the night ahead, and find a place of peace. You can also use this time to jam out to your favorite song for two minutes. It’s up to you!
10. Prevent Heart Problems
When you brush your teeth regularly, you will help prevent gum disease and infections in your mouth in the process. When gum disease and oral infections occur, it can actually increase your risk of heart problems. Those with gum disease have a two to three times higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and other significant heart events than those without gum disease.
11. Prevent Tooth Loss
When you don’t brush your teeth, bacteria will accumulate and cause cavities and gum disease. Without treatment, these can result in tooth loss. If you want to keep your natural teeth and not spend a fortune on dental work, we highly encourage you to get in the bathroom and brush your teeth twice a day.
12. Avoid Stained Teeth
The more time plaque and food particles spend on your teeth, the more likely they will cause stains to your teeth. If you prefer not to whiten your teeth multiple times per year, brushing your teeth twice a day is a great way to prevent stains.
13. Get to Bed Early
Whatever you’re doing instead of getting ready for bed is probably not good for you. Are you giving your boss extra hours by checking work emails? Are you checking social media? Binging The Office? None of that will be as good for your body and mind as getting to bed early. Brushing your teeth is the first step to making sure you get to bed on time!
Enhance Your Oral Health With Our Wilmington Dentist’s Help
We hope the reasons listed above will help you remember to brush your teeth. As soon as you make brushing your teeth part of your routine twice a day, it will be a habit you don’t forget. Aside from brushing and flossing, we will help you protect your oral health with regular cleanings and checkups.
Please call (910) 392-6060 today for an appointment with Dr. Michael Kuzma at Kuzma Advanced Dentistry in Wilmington, NC.
