To maintain a beautiful smile and keep the mouth free from stains, bad breath, cavities, and gum diseases; good oral hygiene is necessary.
A part of this regime involves brushing your teeth between meals or at least twice a day. Most of us use our standard toothbrush and favorite brand of toothpaste to complete this task. This cleanses the teeth, reduced the amount of plaque and bacteria and reduces the risk of tooth decay.
Most of today’s toothpastes contain several active ingredients to help protect and clean the teeth. Among these are Plaque and calculus reducing agents, antibacterial substances, Abrasives, whitening agents and breath fresheners. Some will also contain fluoride which fights and even prevents tooth decay. This is usually safe but the amounts need to be controlled with young children.
Although the use of fluoride has come under some criticism in recent years, it does provide some valuable uses for teeth. Fluoride helps to reharden the enamel. It can do this even in the early stages of tooth decay. This reduces the damage done to the teeth quite significantly and can stop cavities from forming.
Many of today’s toothpastes also contain desensitising agents. These are important to the next layer of the tooth known as the dentin. Every take a cold drink of something and be greeted by intense pain. Ever bite down on a bar of chocolate and have the same experience. This is actually quite common as we get older. The dentin in our teeth is natural sensitive to hot, cold and even sweet things. Desensitizing agents help to lessen this effect. Many times the enamel in teeth will start to wear away towards the gum line. This causes the dentin to become exposed and you more vulnerable to sensitivity.
The desensitising agents help to stop this from happening.
Today, many toothpastes also contain anti-bacterial. The most common is triclosan. These help to reduce the amount of bacteria in your mouth. By doing this, plaque has a hard time building up and you have less of a chance of tooth decay.
Most toothpaste today also contains plaque and calculus reducing agents. These are vitally important to good oral hygiene. Plaque is unsightly and can cause staining of the teeth. However, if plaque is left it can harden and form what is called tartar. This tartar can develop further into calculus deposits. These are hard encrusted pieces that are stuck to the teeth. They can only be removed by a dentist. If calculus if left untreated it can ruin teeth. It will continue to build up around the teeth and gums and cause them to become misshapen. People can even loose teeth as a result of calculus build up.
Finally, most toothpaste today contains a fine abrasive. This is usually an extremely find sand that helps to remove stains. Smokers that use the specially designed products will find that they contain much harsher abrasives.
For those that don’t want all of these chemicals and abrasives in their mouths, there are several natural alternatives to the more popular toothpastes. One of these is tea tree oil. This is an essential oil that from a tree native to Australia. The aboriginal population of the country used to grind up the leaves and drink them as tea. The tea tree oil of today can be uses as a mild antiseptic. It also has natural anti-fungal properties that are useful in fighting gum disease. Tea tree oil needs to be used correctly so make sure you are following the care instructions.
Another alternative is baking soda. This acts as both an abrasive cleaner and a freshener. It will take some time to get used to the taste but baking soda can give your teeth an excellent cleaning and leave you mouth smelling fresh.
Another alternative is Echinacea. This is taken from a shrub native to the southwest USA. It has been known for its natural healing properties for centuries. Echinacea has been most commonly associated with treating colds. It is the one herbal remedy that can stop a cold if taken in time. It however can be useful in fighting tooth decay. It has natural antibiotic and anti-inflammatory powers. It also works as an antiseptic and has natural cleaning abilities.
For those that want to stay away from toothpastes entirely, a diet rich in vitamin C and D is highly recommended. Staying away from rich sugary foods is also necessary.
Toothpastes do provide our teeth with protection. The help strengthen and fight tooth decay. They also clean the entire mouth and keeps our breath smelling fresh. For those that like natural alternatives they do exist. Items such as tea tree oil, baking soda and Echinacea can do just as good of a job without the need of chemicals.
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