As most of us know, brushing our teeth is essential to maintaining fresh breath, clean teeth, and healthy gums. This is why most of us are taught how to maintain a daily hygienic routine when we are younger. However, despite this knowledge and repetition, sometimes we still make mistakes. More specifically, every one of us has fallen asleep without brushing our teeth. While this is certainly a forgivable occurrence, it can become detrimental should it solidify into a regular habit. Here to promote some positive reminders is a list emphasizing the importance of brushing your teeth before going to bed.
Eating Attracts Bacteria
Believe it or not, we don’t intake food just because it’s delicious. We eat to supply our body with essential nutrients that promote basic functionality. However, eating also carries the unintended consequence of supplying the bacteria in our mouths with food. After eating, the bacteria defecate all over the surface of our teeth. This waste is extremely acidic and can lead to tooth decay and other problems.
Inflammation Be Gone!
Not brushing your teeth can result in excessive amounts of plaque, which consequently cause gum inflammation that can quickly spiral out of control. When areas of the body are inflamed for too long, the body itself starts attacking healthy tissue in the surrounding areas. As such, morbid inflammation can cause irreversible long term damage, with many studies drawing correlations between consistent inflammation and problems such as dementia, heart disease, and hearing loss. What’s more, the likelihood of these problems occurring increases the more one fails to brush their teeth. If that’s not incentive for you to remember to brush every night then I don’t know what is!
In Case You Forget
One effective means of negating forgetfulness involves keeping a spare toothbrush next to your bed. This will enable you to brush, should you need to. Don’t worry about toothpaste in these instances, just lightly brush enough to remove any debris, then rinse your toothbrush in some sanitizer. This technique can also be applied to flossing, just be sure to have a trash can nearby for discarding the floss. Additionally, get in the habit of running your tongue over your teeth and notice whether the surfaces are smooth or rough. In the case of the former, your teeth should be clean enough until morning; however, if you experience the latter, then you may want to suck it up and brush before you go back to bed.
