5 Important Dental Care Products Every Household Should Have
Oral health is one of the most important aspects of day-to-day life for a health human being, but unfortunately it also remains one of the most neglected. In fact, approximately 26% of adults between the ages of 20 and 64 have untreated dental cavities in the United States. That’s a pretty staggering number for the self-proclaimed world leader in pretty much everything.
Perhaps the weirdest part of this phenomenon is that proper oral hygiene isn’t really a mystery at all. Most people know what they should be doing, they just choose not to for whatever reason. There are really only a few dental care products that you need to have in order to ensure a health oral cavity. Here are five dental care products you want to always have on hand (and consistently use!).
- Toothbrush: It goes without saying, but it should be noted anyway. Any good toolbox has a hammer and quality teeth cleaning kits start with the toothbrush.
- Dental Floss Picks: Whether you prefer traditional string dental floss or dental floss picks is up to you, but at the end of the day you should be using one of them. It is estimated that brushing only cleans about 70% of your teeth. Flossing is crucial to get to the rest of the mouth. Most experts recommend that flossing should start as soon as two teeth touch each other and continued regularly until they’re gone.
- Mouthwash: Mouthwash is another of the standard dental care products. While flossing is more valuable, mouthwash can help to reach places of the mouth your toothbrush can’t reach and kill microscopic bacteria hiding out.
- Mouth Guard: This product is really only crucial for nighttime teeth grinders. Clenching your teeth during sleep is about equal to putting 300 lbs. of force on your teeth, according to a professor at Tufts University School of Dental Medicine. Overall, approximately 10% of adults and 15% of children likely grind their teeth at night, according to the American Sleep Association. Night mouth guards need to be used for nighttime grinding in order to protect them from self-sustained damage.
- Miscellaneous: Medications, teeth whitening products, and other various dental care products that can be used to improve oral health fall into this category.