October is National Dental Hygiene Month
The month of October is most recognized for Halloween costumes and trick-or-treating for candy. So, it shouldn’t surprise us that October is the time of the year nationally designated to celebrate the work dental hygienists do. We honor and appreciate the amazing work they do, and we want to help raise awareness for dental health, improving oral health habits, while turning the spotlight to the thousands of dedicated dental hygienists who work hard to clean and take care of our teeth.
Maintaining your teeth’s health can be considered as one of the most important things you do for your body. Having a strong set of teeth not only ensures that you can make good use of your teeth for longer time frame, but also you can be free from any future expensive dental bills. While most of us may think it is difficult to keep the teeth healthy, in reality the fact is that few simple practices and healthy lifestyle can make a huge positive impact on your oral health.
• Consider having a clean diet: One of the first things that you can practice to maintain whiter teeth and overall good oral health is to follow a healthy diet. Avoid or minimize eating and drinking products that stain your teeth such as red wine, coffee etc. Rinsing your mouth after every meal is also a good practice to follow. Apples are considered to be good for teeth and gums since they can increase saliva flow and keep the teeth healthy.
• Practice Proper Brushing Habits: Another highly recommended practice is to change your toothbrush at regular intervals (about once in 3 months.) Try brushing in small circular motion rather than back and forth motion. It is highly recommended to change toothbrush after you have recovered from the flu because you may be transferring bacteria back into your mouth if you continue to use the same brush.
• Clean your tongue: One of the important parts of your mouth that many people tend to forget to clean is your tongue. One of the important things to remember is that bacteria and plaque start building up in your tongue as well which can contribute to bad breath and other oral problems. Make sure to clean your tongue using a tongue scrapper every morning after you wake-up.
You may not know this, but having a healthy mouth helps the rest of your body stay healthy, too. A look inside your mouth, or a swab of saliva can tell your doctor a lot more than you realize about what’s going on in your body. Our mouths are sometimes called “the window” looking into the rest of our bodies.
Our integrative, functional approach is to look beyond the teeth and identify how your oral health can impact your total health and systemic health impact on oral health. Did you know the bacteria associated with gum disease can drastically increase your risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and many other serious systemic diseases?
We are an OraVital® Certified Dental Office in McHenry, IL
The testing we use is the OraVital® test. Our dental office has been certified to dispense the OraVital® System, a powerful diagnostic and treatment protocol for oral infections including gingivitis (sensitive or bleeding gums), periodontitis (gum disease,) and halitosis (chronic bad breath.)
The Oravital® System is a scientifically proven, safe, easy, non-invasive, and highly effective protocol in treating oral infections. The Oravital® System fights and controls harmful bacteria, restoring your mouth to a healthy state. The OraVital® System is the most comprehensive solution for the detection & treatment of the oral pathogens.
If dental concerns are bothering you, then talk to your dentist and work out a plan to resolve your dental problems. If you are residing in McHenry or its neighboring community then give us a call, we would love to be your dental team.
With wishes for good health,
Dr. James Hasken
About James A. Hasken, DDS
Since 1987, Dr. James Hasken has been providing HEALTH-FOCUSED DENTISTRY in McHenry. Being Health-Focused means that we provide you with the information and coaching to help you toward your oral health goals. Our approach is INTEGRATIVE DENTAL MEDICINE which is about identifying how the BODY, BREATHING, BACTERIA, and BITE effects total health. This puts you, the patient, at the center with a focus on prevention, fostering the development of healthy behaviors, and skills for effective self-control and care that can be used for a lifetime to attain optimum health. The mouth is a reflection of total body health. We would love the opportunity to help you attain the level of total body health you desire. We serve many patients from McHenry, Crystal Lake, Woodstock, Spring Grove, Richmond, Genoa City, Twin Lakes, Wonder Lake, Island Lake, Johnsburg, Ringwood, Volo, Fox Lake, Lakemoor, Holiday Hills, Round Lake, Round Lake Park, Round Lake Beach, Geneva Lake, and surrounding areas. We invite you to contact us today at 815-385-0777!
