Few dental problems are as embarrassing and difficult to live with as missing teeth. Since tooth loss is frequently caused by gum disease, preventing it is the real key to avoiding missing teeth. The following steps will preserve your smile and quality of life.

Start with Good Home Dental Care

As with any area of health maintenance, good dental health is built around a set of daily choices. Thoroughly brushing your teeth, gums, and cheeks with a fluoride toothpaste for at least two minutes twice per day is a good foundation for warding off dental cavities and bacterial infection that can lead to gum disease. Flossing cleans in-between teeth to reduce the build-up of plaque, food, and bacteria that causes gum disease. Since both teeth and gums are living tissues, eating right, and exercising benefit them as well.

Radiate Good Health with Routine Checkups

While many patients are pleased to see whiter teeth after a professional cleaning, appearance is only one reason to visit your dentist every six months. Dentists also screen for infections that can lead to chronic conditions such as heart disease. Routine appointments with other healthcare providers are just as important. Since teeth are necessary for proper digestion and nutrition, poor dental health leads to poor overall health. Moreover, since gum and bone tissue depend upon overall metabolic and repair processes to stay strong and supple, maintaining good overall health will give you a smile that reflects your radiant good health.

Avoid the Dreaded Dental Drift

If you have already lost one or more teeth, a gummy grin is not an inevitable part of your future. If you have family members who have suffered over the loss of their smile, they probably had multiple drifting teeth. Such dental drift occurs as still present teeth shift to accommodate the gap from a missing tooth. This creates misalignment that makes it more difficult to keep teeth clean, possibly leading to gum disease. Dental implants from a qualified provider such as Cambridge City Dental can halt this drifting process to keep your gum disease at bay while restoring a more youthful appearance.

Treating or preventing gum disease is so important to dental as well as general good health. Fortunately, dental professionals now have so many tools to help keep your grin gleaming and your life full of the tastes and words you love. Restoring and reclaiming such good health is something worth smiling about.