If you’ve sustained a serious dental injury before, like a crack in your enamel or a completely knocked-out tooth, then you know first-hand how painful they are to experience and how stressful they are to handle. Fortunately, there are ways you can avoid a dental emergency. With this in mind, keep reading to learn how you can protect your smile and wallet from harm!
1. Wear a Mouthguard During Sports
Usually, wearing a mouthguard is required during football and other contact sports. What many patients don’t realize, however, is just how important it is to wear one during non-contact ones as well, like riding your bike. If you don’t have one already, schedule an appointment with your dentist so they can have a custom one made for you, ensuring your smile is protected if something unexpected happens, like you accidentally fall.
2. Don’t Eat Extremely Crunchy Foods
Although delicious, hard pretzels, peanut brittle, and other crunchy foods dramatically increase your risk of sustaining a serious chip or crack. So, it’s best to eliminate them from your diet. At the same time, focus on incorporating nutrient-dense foods that will help keep your smile healthy from the inside out, like seasonal fruits and vegetables.
3. Prioritize Your Biannual Dental Exams
During your biannual exams, your dentist reviews your latest X-rays, takes a look at each tooth, and assesses the health of your gums. The goal? To catch common oral health problems at the earliest possible stage. That way, they can be treated before they progress further, reducing your risk of needing emergency dental care in the process.
4. Break Bad Habits, Like Smoking
Smoking can negatively impact your oral health in several ways, which is why patients are encouraged to quit. But that’s not the only bad habit you should break to protect your smile. It’s also a good idea to stop biting your nails, chewing on ice cubes, and using your teeth as tools to open things. After all, while they may seem harmless, habits like these can lead to everything from small chips to serious fractures.
5. Floss Consistently
All too often, patients view flossing as optional. The truth is that brushing alone cleans about 60% of the surface of your teeth, but you need to floss and rinse with mouthwash to clean the remaining 40%! So, if you want to protect your gums from infection and your teeth from decay, you need to make flossing a part of your daily oral hygiene regimen.
About the Practice
Our team at Smiles of Memorial Dentistry is always just a phone call away if you need us. We also go the extra mile to make your experience stress-free – from offering sedation dentistry to welcoming several financial solutions. So, if you need emergency dental care, or you have a question pertaining to your oral health, don’t hesitate to schedule an appointment with our Houston dentist via our website or by phone at (281) 493-0061.