It’s no exaggeration to say that Americans suffer from poor dental health — nearly half of Americans of all ages have some degree of tooth decay and half of adults over the age of 30 have gum disease. As a result, 178 million Americans are missing at least one tooth and 40 million Americans are missing all of their teeth — and decay and periodontitis play no small roles in these losses.

At Grace Dental Group, our team of dental experts, led by Drs. Woo Young Lee and Sean Kim, partners with patients through our dental hygiene services to ensure that they reap the benefits of healthy teeth that allow them to chew, talk, and smile with ease.

To accomplish this goal, a little preventive care on your end, as well as ours, can go a long way toward great dental health that will serve your family well long into the future.

At-home care

When it comes to taking care of your oral health at home, the rules of thumb are:

• Brush at least twice a day (when you wake up and before you go to bed)
• Floss at least once a day (preferably at night)
• Rinse after meals

Of course, there’s always more that you can to protect your teeth on your own, such as rinsing your mouth with water any time you indulge a sugary drink or snack. Speaking of junk food, it’s a good idea to avoid this “food group” altogether, especially children who have soft baby teeth.

While we encourage you to drink plenty of water, if you mostly drink filtered or treated water, you may be robbing your teeth of the beneficial fluoride that comes from tap water. To counter this, we recommend that you drink some water out of your faucet from time to time, perhaps in your coffee or tea.

You should also choose a toothpaste that contains fluoride to help keep your teeth strong and protected.

As for children, we know it can be a battle to get them to adhere to this daily regimen, but try your best as it can make a big difference in their oral health.

Doing our part

If you do your part at home with regular dental hygiene, we’ll do ours here through annual check-ups and tooth cleanings. These visits are incredibly important as even with the best care, your teeth and gums may develop problems.

During your annual check-up, we look for signs of early tooth decay and gum disease. Since both of these conditions are progressive, the earlier we’re able to treat the problem, the better your outcome.

For example, during your twice-annual professional teeth cleaning, we’re able to get to those hard-to-reach places that may be harboring destructive bacteria and clean them out. Not to mention,  we can easily reverse gum disease in its earliest stages — gingivitis — with a good cleaning.

By the same token, if we find tooth decay, we can quickly remove the affected part of your tooth and fill in the area with a tooth-preserving filling.

To get on the road to great oral health, contact our office in the Fillmore District San Francisco, California, to schedule your dental exam today.