Even if you take great care of your teeth you should still see the dentist at least two times a year. Even dentists get regular teeth cleanings and checkups from their dental hygienists every 6 months or so. I did a test myself to see what the difference would be if I just cleaned my teeth myself every day and a professional teeth cleaning.

Using Your Own Dental Tools

So last year I came across this take home DIY dental kit that I found at Big Lots. It was after I had just gotten a haircut and I needed some baby shampoo because my barber suggested that baby shampoo would moisten my scalp. My scalp is really dry and it gets flaky so it looks like I have dandruff but it’s just a dry scalp. My barber said baby shampoo would solve this problem. It hasn’t helped yet.

Back to the topic at hand, when I went to Big Lots looking for baby shampoo, I found this dental kit for $1.00. It came with a dental mirror, a scaler, and a tongue scraper. It also had a terrible cheap toothbrush but the rest of the tools I got for a dollar was unbelievable. A scraper are the metal tool with two sides that dental hygienists use to scrape off the plaque and tartar from your teeth.

After buying this kit I went straight home and used the scaler to start scraping the plaque and tartar off my teeth and it was insane. I couldn’t believe how much plaque I had that I never noticed because you never really look that closely at your teeth. You also don’t see what the dental hygienist scrapes off your teeth.

I also used it to scrape in between my teeth which was also really great because it separated the teeth (especially the front bottom teeth). I then rubbed my tongue against my teeth and it was really similar to after you get your teeth cleaned at the dentist.

Let a Professional Work on Your Teeth

After becoming obsessed with using the scraper basically after every meal, I realized that I could be harming my teeth and I probably should let a professional do it. Although, it probably could be useful to do it once a month because I don’t want to go 6 months will all that plaque until I go to the dentist for my regular cleaning.

I just got my teeth cleaned yesterday at https://www.wholelifedental.com/ and wow what a difference it made when the professional did it. It was absolutely night and day.

I definitely recommend that you still go to the dentist for regular checkups and cleanings about twice a year even if you brush and floss twice a day and even if you use tools like I did to further clean your teeth. Using tools like the scaler can still be really helpful.

The Dentist Won’t Clean Your Tongue

One thing I realized after being my own dental hygienist for a while is that you don’t get your tongue cleaned at the dentist. So I highly recommend that along with brushing your tongue really well and using mouthwash, you should use a tongue scraper to clean your tongue. You’d be surprised to see how much extra stuff you can scrape off your tongue rather than just brushing your tongue.

You can really improve your breath and get rid of bacteria and bad breath that sticks on your tongue. Another thing I didn’t mention is flossing. Flossing should be a daily routine and ideally it should be done after every meal because the longer you leave it the harder it will be to remove it.

Conclusion

In conclusion, no matter how well and how often you brush your teeth and floss, you should still visit the dentist for regular cleanings and checkups twice a year at least.