School is right around the corner, and for some, it’s already started! From preschool to college, back to school is an exciting season, and it’s also a great time to get back into a healthy dental hygiene routine.
At Country Club Dental, we want to help our patients get ready for the school year ahead. Whether you or your kids need a back-to-school dental visit or need a little brushing up on how to brush, there are many ways to get your dental health back on track. Here are our top four tips for back-to-school dental care.
1: Practice Routine Brushing
This might not seem like a very revolutionary tip, but when you’re busy traveling and having fun during the summer, your dental hygiene routine could suffer. If you’ve fallen off track with daily brushing, or just want to improve your brushing habits in general, the back-to-school season is the perfect time to make brushing a priority.
When it comes to children’s dental care, making sure they are brushing properly can sometimes be a challenge. We recommend brushing for at least two minutes, twice a day. An electric toothbrush with a timer can be incredibly helpful for ensuring your children are brushing well. Plus, flossing one time per day.
Another way to make brushing and flossing a part of the daily routine is to pair it with another habit. For teens, this could mean brushing their teeth when they check their phones in the morning and brushing and flossing when they finish their homework in the evening. You can pair brushing and flossing with your daily skincare routine, your shower or bath time, or after your first and last meals of the day.
2: Get Your Biannual Cleanings
If you or your children haven’t been in for your second dental cleaning and checkup of the year, now is the time to get it done! With busier days and more rigid schedules on the horizon, it’s best to schedule those back-to-school dental visits early in the school year.
Staying on top of biannual cleanings is very important, especially for children’s dental care. Dental visits help you catch and treat dental issues like cavities early, before they become bigger problems.
Monitoring children’s dental development to ensure their teeth and gums are healthy is also very important. Many orthodontic issues, like ectopic eruption (when teeth don’t come in where they should), are easier to address if they’re caught early on.
3: Get a Fluoride Treatment
You probably already know that fluoride is important for protecting teeth against decay, but did you know that there are affordable treatments available to further protect your teeth? During the summer, eating habits can become unbalanced with snacks like ice cream, snow cones, and popsicles.
Giving your dental health a boost of protection with a fluoride treatment is a great way to kick off the school year. At Country Club Dental, we offer some of the most affordable fluoride treatments around. Ask us about getting a fluoride treatment at your next cleaning appointment.
4: Be Sure to Get Quality Sleep
While sleep might not seem to have anything to do with your dental health, it’s actually vital to the health of your entire body. With classes, sports, socializing, studying, and all other manner of events to be present for, sleep is often the last thing on a student’s mind.
Lack of sleep can wreak havoc on dental health—sleep deprivation stresses our bodies, and stress is incredibly hard on our teeth. From bruxism (teeth grinding) to canker sores, stress takes a toll on our mouths. Getting adequate sleep every night is important not only for mental performance during the day, but also for keeping your mouth healthy.
Schedule Your Back to School Dental Visit
If you’re looking for a dentist in Flagstaff, Arizona, Country Club Dental would love to have you as a part of our family. We want to make sure you and your students are ready for the school year ahead with clean, healthy teeth. Call us at 928-526-4314 or schedule an appointment online today!
Images used under creative commons license – commercial use (8/27/21). Photo by Jerry Wang on Unsplash
