The Dental Centre team can give you the best advice on cleaning and flossing techniques to ensure your at-home oral care routine is the best it can be.

This should include brushing twice each day with a fluoride toothpaste, flossing at least once per day and attending regular professional cleaning appointments at The Dental Centre. With this simple routine, you can help to ensure your teeth and gums are healthy and your breath is fresh.

Professional cleaning treatments at The Dental Centre utilise ultrasonic equipment to remove hard deposits of tartar from the teeth. We also routinely use a Prophyjet system, which is excellent for stain removal.

All professional cleaning treatments at The Dental Centre are completed with your comfort as a top priority.

If you’ve ever experienced red, swollen gums that bleed easily when you brush and floss, you may be on the path towards gum disease, the most common cause of tooth loss for Australian adults. Gum disease has also been linked to stroke, heart disease and diabetes. Fortunately, periodontal treatment from The Dental Centre can help prevent the progression of gum disease as well as improving your overall health.

Periodontal treatment aims to control existing infection and halt further advancement of the disease. As an adjunct to your regular check ups at The Dental Centre, your dentist or dental hygienist may remove the plaque and tartar from both above and below the gum line of all your teeth.

If signs of gingivitis are detected, your dentist may recommend that you return for future cleaning more often than twice a year or that you use a toothpaste or mouth rinse that is approved for fighting gingivitis. We may also recommend a procedure called scaling and root planing (SRP) to thoroughly remove plaque and tartar from above and below the gum line.

Your at-home brushing and flossing routine is also crucially important because, while brushing eliminates plaque from the surfaces of the teeth, flossing removes plaque from in between the teeth and under the gum line.

Your diet is just as crucial to the health of your teeth and gums as it is for your overall health. You probably already realise that sugary, starchy foods and drinks will react with your mouth’s bacteria to produce acid, which attacks your tooth enamel and causes decay. What you might not realise is that it is not so much the amount of sugar and starch you eat, but the frequency.

If you continually snack and drink sugary or acidic drinks throughout the day, your teeth and gums will be exposed to decay-causing acid for longer periods, causing far greater damage.

Reducing how often you have sugary or starchy drinks and snacks will help you maintain the best oral health. Try switching your sweet treats for healthy alternatives such as cheese, nuts, fresh fruit and vegetables. You can also chew sugar-free gum to stimulate saliva production, your body’s natural mouth acid neutraliser. Rinsing with water after eating is always a great idea to flush away the food that may have accumulated and help your saliva to defend the teeth.

Constant bad breath and discoloured, unhealthy looking teeth are the least of the problems that smoking can create for your oral health. Smoking is one of the main causes of gingivitis, teeth discolouration, infection of the teeth and gums, constant bad breath, tooth loss and, most seriously, oral cancer.

Heavy smokers are six times more likely than non-smokers to develop oral cancer which is why we strongly recommend you visit The Dental Centre regularly to help us detect abnormalities and diagnose oral cancer early.

If you are a smoker, you may be unable to receive some dental restorations, such as dental implants, because smoking impedes the necessary healing.

It is no secret that quitting smoking is difficult, but the team at The Dental Centre are very supportive of patients trying to make this important change in their lives. We strongly recommend that you try to give up smoking because, without this, any kind of dental treatment will be compromised and maintaining your oral and general health will always be very difficult.

One of the most basic things that you can do for the health of your teeth and gums is to put in place a thorough oral hygiene routine at home.

Brushing twice each day with a fluoride toothpaste and flossing at least once per day, in addition to attending for regular professional cleaning at The Dental Centre, will help ensure your teeth and gums are in good health and your breath is fresh.

Our team are always happy to provide advice on the correct brushing and flossing technique as well as effective products to help you keep a healthy mouth and beautiful smile for life.