There is a lot of joy involved in eating the food that you like. Whether a particular food is tasty or not depends on many factors and one of these factors is how the food feels when you chew. If a food that's supposed to feel crunch feels mushy, or a food that's supposed to feel smooth feels crunch, then the food is considered to taste bad. Without the healthy teeth one will have problem feeling these food texture that's unique to a particular food. This reason alone makes teeth precious parts of our body. Also, finely chewing up the food helps with easier digestion contributing to proper nutrient absorption. Some patients who are missing teeth say to me that they are unhappy with their lives just because they can't enjoy food.

It is important to correctly treat diseased teeth and gum once they occur, but what's more important is to prevent the diseases from occurring in the first place by practicing proper oral hygiene at home. You may very well end up with cavities and gum diseases even if you go to your dentist regularly, unless you practice proper oral hygiene on daily basis at home. In modern day societies, almost everyone brushes teeth, however good portion of people who regularly practice oral hygiene end up losing some of their teeth due to caries and gum diseases because of their improper teeth cleaning technique and habits. If you have problems with your teeth and gum despite the fact that you brush regularly, it is often due to improper brushing techniques, and your dentist's failure to inform and educate you. It is a sad fact, but many dentists put enormous effort in fixing teeth, and spend very little time on patient education on prevention. Perhaps, the dentists are too busy treating diseases. It amazes me to know that people do a far better job in doing dishes than cleaning their own teeth.

In order to properly clean your teeth and gum, you have to use floss in addition to brushing. Toothbrush alone can't clean teeth surfaces between teeth, and unless you use floss to clean between teeth and below gum level you are actually cleaning only half the surfaces of your teeth, and you have risk of getting cavities and gum diseases. You would never clean just the half the dish surfaces would you?

Patients frequently ask me about the effectiveness of electric toothbrushes and particular brand of toothpaste. Unless you have problem grasping a toothbrush due to joint diseases, an electric toothbrush is not superior to a regular good old manual toothbrush. Also, when it comes to cleaning you teeth, the toothpaste plays a very minor role. Unless you use your toothbrushes and floss properly, no amount of toothpaste and mouthwash use will prevent the cavities and gum diseases from occuring.

During your next regular check up and scaling appointment with your dentist, be sure to ask your dentist about the proper use of toothbrush and floss. If you have young kids, please teach them the value of proper oral hygiene habit so that they may keep their teeth and gum healthy for life and enjoy food and live a healthy life.

                                                                                                                      Written by Dr. Eugene Kim