hink about it. How long does it take your dentist or dental hygienist to clean your teeth thoroughly? Although you do not have the same tools and you cannot do the same job at home, do you still use the same level of care when you clean your teeth? If your answer is no, then you might want to re-evaluate your dental care habits and use your Kennesaw dentist’s standard of excellence as an inspiration.

First, what’s the difference between the amount of time you spend brushing your teeth and how much time your hygienist spends? Your hygienist probably takes a few minutes to brush all of the exposed surfaces around each one of your teeth carefully. You don’t need expensive dental tools to do this for yourself if you simply use your toothbrush to brush all the surfaces of each tooth gently at home too. Dentists suggest brushing in circular motions or up and down motions for at least two minutes to get the plaque off all of your teeth’s surfaces.

Your hygienist also cleans surfaces of your teeth that are harder to reach by flossing. If you don’t floss at home, your teeth are probably suffering. Even if you do floss, do you really floss as well as your hygienist does? Simply snapping the floss between your teeth won’t get all the plaque off your teeth, so you should take as much care as your hygienist does in flossing. The best way to floss is to start at the bottom of one tooth underneath the gum and to slide the dental floss up the edge of the tooth. You should then start a clean spot on the floss and do the same with the next tooth until you have cleaned between all of your teeth.

Seeing the dentist is essential to maintaining optimal dental health, but your dentist can’t do it all if you’re not doing your part at home. Even if you do take care of your teeth, your dental health will benefit from taking the extra time to care for your teeth as well as your dentist does.