This two-part article series provides a check-list of good habits to develop and bad habits to avoid if you want to keep your complete set of original teeth for life.

Welcome back to the second half of our two-part article series on the 20 top habits to ditch or adopt if you want to keep your smile healthy and looking youthful for life. In our previous article post, we covered the first eleven points on our check-list for avoiding tooth loss and the need for dental implants:

1. Brush your teeth for two minutes, at least twice a day.

2. Floss your teeth before you go to bed at night.

3. See the dentist and hygienist twice a year for a check-up and professional cleaning.

4. Don’t use your teeth as tools to force open containers or tear packaging.

5. Don’t chew ice, stresses the dental implants dentist.

6. Don’t get your tongue or lips pierced.

7. Don’t play rough sports without a mouth guard.

8. Don’t give your children bedtime bottles.

9. Tooth-grinder? Have a mouth guard fitted and wear it to bed every night.

10. Stay away from gummy, chewy candies and toffee.

11. Limit your intake of sugar-packed sodas, fruit juices and energy drinks.

In this article, the final installment, the dental implants dentist shall discuss the remaining habits to develop or avoid in order to keep your complete set of natural pearly whites in excellent lifelong condition.

12. Get enough fluoride. Use fluoride toothpaste and drink mineral or tap water instead of filtered water, advises the dental implants dentist. Fluoride keeps your dental enamel healthy and protected against bacteria, acid and wear-and-tear.

13. Eat three square meals a day and avoid snacking in between. Every time you eat, the levels of bacteria and acid in your mouth soar. If you snack constantly, you expose your teeth and gums to a consistently acidic and bacteria-riddled environment. This increases your risk of tooth decay and gingivitis, which can develop into serious oral ailments that cause tooth loss and the need for dental implants.

14. Chew sugar-free gum after a snack or sugary beverage. Chewing gum stimulates saliva production, which contains natural anti-bacterial agents. This is a great way and easy way to help prevent the need for dental implants.

15. Stop chewing on that pencil! It may feel therapeutic, but nibbling on the end of your pencil may be doing serious damage to your dental enamel, warns the dental implants dentist. The enamel is your tooth’s most important defense against bacteria, so damaging it is going to leave your entire tooth vulnerable to decay.

16. Limit your intake of coffee and tea. These warm beverages are high in tannins (stain your teeth), acid (erodes your enamel) and, often, sugar (increased risk of tooth decay).

17. Alcohol in moderation. Alcohol tends to be high in acid and sugar, which is terrible for your teeth, explains the dental implants dentist. Alcohol also causes ‘dry mouth.

18. Tobacco-use in all its forms – smoking and chewing – it terrible for your oral health. You’ll have much more to worry about than the need to replace missing teeth with dental implants… smoking causes gum disease and the full suite of oral cancers.

19. Address eating disorders. A lack of proper nutrition causes one’s oral health to become incredibly vulnerable to infection and the various conditions that lead to tooth loss, says the dental implants dentist. Bulimia baths the teeth in potent stomach acid, completely destroying them. Seek immediate professional attention.

20. Understand the implications of medication on your oral health. Drug-abuse damages your oral health as much as it does your general health. But even over-the-counter medications can have a negative impact upon the health of your teeth and gums, warns the dental implant dentist. Understand what these dangers are and take the appropriate measures, for example, adopting a more rigorous home oral hygiene routine and more frequent visits to the dentist.

A Final Note from the Dental Implants Dentist

Follow the advice of this two-part article series and you will most likely be able to keep your complete set of natural teeth in fantastic life-long condition. It’s a neglect of oral health and hygiene (and the occasional unfortunate accident) that leads to tooth loss and the need for teeth replacement with dental implants.