It’s no surprise that brushing your teeth and flossing daily is the key components to good oral health. Yet for some absurd reason, we do not follow dentists’ recommendations. Work, kids, bills, and life in general prevent us from taking ten minutes out of our day to take care of our smiles. There are 1,440 minutes in a day. Ten minutes added onto a daily routine can build self-confidence, increase your chances of finding a significant other, and maybe even land you that dream job you’ve been wanting. Everyone has their own reason as to why they have the oral hygiene that they have from aesthetic teeth to our biggest fears of bad breath, and cavities. These are superficial reasons, but in actuality there are far worse consequences that arise from poor oral hygiene such as:
Self-esteem issues
Having yellow teeth causes unwanted attention to your mouth and can make you feel uncomfortable. It’s not polite to stare but it’s hard not to when you see someone with teeth only a few shades lighter than a school bus. Smiling is not only a way to express happiness but endorphins are released making you physiologically happier. People, who don’t smile due to being self-conscious of their teeth, are actually not as happy because they don’t get the endorphin release. The color of your teeth is one of the few things in this world you can control. Why choose to miss out on those good endorphins, be sad, and be self-conscious about your smile?
Pain
It comes to no surprise that poor oral health can result in toothaches or sensitivity. Pain is a result of either:
- Receding gums to expose tooth nerves
- Tooth decay
- Chipped teeth
- Infected gums
- And deterioration of enamel exposing the dentin
What better way to ruin that delicious piece of chocolate or that juicy steak you’ve been looking forward to all day then to feel pain while eating it? Or what about not being able to enjoy a freezing cold glass of water on a scalding hot day? You might as well just throw out the food and put your water in the microwave because nobody wants to feel pain while eating or drinking.
Tooth decay
Who needs teeth anyway? If you just don’t want to keep your teeth the best way to get rid of them is:
- Not utilizing the glorified 10 to take care of your teeth
- Eat a lot of sugary foods
- Never chew ADA approved gum
- Sell them (as people did in the 15th century)
- And let bacteria dissolve each tooth away with the acid they produce.
Approximately 90% of adults have had tooth decay and only 20% of them had treatment. So if you’re seriously considering getting rid of your teeth you are not alone! Just to forewarn you this is a painful process but is guaranteed to remove those pesky pearly whites.
Gingivitis
While brushing your teeth is important, flossing is just as or even more important. Flossing strengthens gums and keeps them from receding or getting inflamed (Gingivitis). Having inflamed and bleeding gums is painful, causes bad breathe, and can lead to Periodontitis.
Having untreated Gingivitis will lead to:
- Loose teeth
- Pockets in the gums
- Bleeding of gums
- Inflammation and infection of ligaments and bone
- And tooth decay.
One’s oral health should never come to this because the old rule applies, “if it hurts get it checked out.” This stage may not be reversed but can go into remission.
The good thing is seeing a dentist as well as putting in that glorified 10 minutes of oral care a day can have a huge impact on all of these issues. The bad thing is these issues can get serious fast and if proper actions are not taken, you could permanently lose your teeth.
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