Dental Tips

The Australian Dental Association has 4 tips for good oral health:

1) Brush twice daily (morning and night, for at least 2min), with a fluoride toothpaste.

2) Use floss (or an interdental cleaning device) at least once daily.

3) Reduce sugary drinks and food.

4) Visit the dentist for regular check-ups.

​

We like to add our own tip number 5 which is to avoid crunching on hard food (e.g. hard nuts,  lollies, ice, etc.).

Notes about Tip number 3:

​We need to be aware of the two aspects regarding sugar which causes damage to teeth - quantity consumed and time of exposure.

​​

Regarding the quantity of sugar consumed, the Australian Dental Association has promoted less than 15g of sugars per 100g of product on food labels as being okay. Generally, less is better for dental health. 

​​

As for the time of exposure to sugar, this refers to the total amount of time your teeth are exposed to sugary food or drinks. Think about the number of meals you have in day (e.g. breakfast, morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea, dinner, supper, snacking between meals) and the length of time taken to complete each meal or drink. Similarly to the quantity of sugar consumes, generally the less time of exposure to sugar is better for dental health.

​

As a guide, have nothing with sugar in-between the main meals. Rinsing your mouth with plain water after meals is a simple thing to do which can be helpful as well.

​

For extra protection, you may wish to consider some products in the market such as high-fluoride containing toothpaste, remineralisation pastes, mouthrinses and sugar-free gum.

​

​