5 Things That Work Wonders
If you have ever suffered from painful arthritic joints, decreased shoulder mobility, or reduced fine motor control, you will know that manual tooth brushing and traditional flossing asks a lot from our fingers, wrists, arms, shoulders and even our eyes and our balance.
So here are five clever oral hygiene aids you can use in your daily routine:
- A sonic or an oscillating electric toothbrush. Electric toothbrushes mimic the dentist’s rotatory handpiece, and are clinically proven to clean twice as much plaque while at the same time being just as gentle as a regular toothbrush. The added bonus is that the electric toothbrush head produces the movement for us, which lessens the physical demand on our upper limbs.
- An air flosser or an oxy jet water flosser. If traditional flossing is too difficult to do on a daily basis, try one of these appliances, which are based on the dentist’s air and water handpiece. They are especially good for hard-to-reach spots around crowns and implants, and if you have large pockets of gum around your teeth.
- Piksters or interdental brushes. These give a great mechanical clean and can be easier to handle then traditional floss because of the easy-to-grip handles. They also come in various sizes which is great if you have either crowded or spaced teeth, or prostheses that require you to clean the under surfaces.
- A tongue scraper. The tongue can harbour up to 80% of the plaque in our mouths, suffer from fungal infections, ulcers, trap bacteria responsible for bad breath, and in rare cases display oral cancers. Cleaning of the tongue is vitally important, and made so simple by using a tongue scraper specifically designed to keep the tongue fresh and disease free.
- Dry mouth gel. Good quality saliva contains a number of molecules that not only prevent tooth decay, but also periodontal disease and fungal infections. In addition, a constant supply of saliva serves to lubricate and mechanically wash food debris, bacteria and fungi out of the mouth. If you are experiencing symptoms of a chronic dry mouth, try to increase your water intake daily and use a dry mouth gel frequently throughout the day.