Daily Dental Care and How to Clean your Impress Clear Aligners

Healthy teeth not only make you look good, but also help to keep your body healthy in general. We are often only concerned about keeping our teeth whitened and aligned, but oral care goes much further than that.

Brushing your teeth regularly, every day, is essential to remove the bacterial plaque that is deposited on teeth and prevent periodontal diseases. Not taking good daily oral care is not only associated with problems in the oral cavity but also with other problems in the body caused by the entry of bacteria through the mouth.

Daily dental care

Good oral health means having hygiene habits that help us to have a healthy mouth, clean teeth and avoid certain problems or diseases.

Ensuring correct brushing

This is considered the most basic and main point, without which all the others are meaningless. It is part of the daily care of the teeth, and it is essential to do it correctly. To do this, the brush must be placed vertically and the movements must be from top to bottom; in the case of the external side. For the inner side, the brush is slid from the gum outwards.

The brushing process should last 2 to 3 minutes to ensure that each tooth is clean. At the end of the process it is important to do the tongue brushing, which is done from back to front.

It is essential to brush your teeth at least three times a day, after each meal and before going to bed.

Flossing

There are several areas where the toothbrush does not reach, therefore, to ensure proper oral hygiene, the use of dental floss is essential at every brushing. There are different types of floss: nylon (multifilament) or PTFE (monofilament).

Use of mouthwashes

A complete oral cleaning is necessary, so brushing and flossing are not enough. After these processes have been carried out, it is recommended to use a mouthwash that meets your needs. To ensure its effectiveness, rinse twice a day for one minute without diluting the product. It is important to emphasise that it is a complement to oral care, i.e. it should not replace toothbrushing or flossing.

There are many types of mouthwash: therapeutic (for the prevention or reduction of oral diseases such as caries) or cosmetic (to control and temporarily reduce bad breath).

Renew your toothbrush regularly

The toothbrush, being such an essential element for oral health, needs to be kept firm. It should be changed when it shows signs of wear and tear or every three to four months. It is also important to rinse the toothbrush with water after toothbrushing and to store it in an upright position, without covering it or carrying it in a closed container.

Visit the dentist at least once a year.

Professional advice is always important when it comes to assessing and monitoring the development of teeth. It should not be forgotten that it is a basic necessity to visit the dentist at least once a year. Regularly checking the state of our oral health is essential in the early detection of diseases such as gingivitis, periodontitis, etc. So we recommend you do your teeth cleaning with a licensed dental professional.

Avoid excessively sugary foods

Our diet plays a fundamental role in the health of our mouth and teeth. Therefore, avoiding a high consumption of foods and drinks with a high sugar content can help us to prevent dental caries.

It is important to note that in order to maintain good oral health, it is not only necessary to take care of our mouth, but also to take care of our teeth in general. A good diet, avoiding smoking and practising sport are some examples.

Eliminate or reduce smoking

Smokers’ gums are more prone to infection because smoking causes a lack of oxygen in the bloodstream, which reduces the flow of blood and nutrients to the gums. It is therefore advisable if you are a smoker to eliminate or at least reduce your tobacco consumption.

Care for Impress clear aligners

Keeping in mind the above daily hygiene tips, for a correct functioning of the treatment and good dental health. These are the recommendations that Impress offers for the care of your aligners:

• Clean your aligners properly to prevent tartar and bacteria from building up on them and always clean them before putting them back in, with our teeth well brushed beforehand. Once a week it is advisable to clean the aligners with specialised tablets in a container with water, this will keep the aligners with their initial transparency and will deeply eliminate any type of bacteria.
• Avoid bad behaviours and habits such as nail biting or smoking, especially if you are wearing aligners. Bear in mind that you are in a long-term treatment and if you bite your nails, with or without the aligners, you will be hindering the effectiveness of the treatment and making the process take longer. And not only that, smoking and nail biting are a source of infections for our oral health.
• Always keep your aligners in their protective case, you should always take care of your aligners, to prevent them from getting damaged or dirty, it is the base element of the treatment.