Does Drinking More Water Protect Your Teeth?


Dental health is essential to us all because it not only affects the quality of our smile but, in many ways, it influences our quality of life. Besides the ability to offer a brilliant smile, a healthy mouth allows us to eat correctly, breathe without obstruction, speak with expression, and get into close encounters with fresh breath.

If you follow our blog posts, you understand there are many steps to protect your teeth, like brushing, flossing, and regular checkups. Below, you will learn why drinking water can be added to that list.

Strengthens Teeth

Drinking water, including water enhanced with fluoride, is recommended to strengthen teeth. Fluoride is a component proved scientifically to make teeth healthy and reduce cavities. It supports tooth structure and promotes remineralization. Consuming water with fluoride is an easy way to care for your dental health.

Cleans Your Mouth

Drinking water, along with consistent brushing and flossing, will keep your teeth clean. It rinses off acid and residue left by some foods as well as sugars and bacteria. If these harmful residues are left on the tooth surface and between the teeth, cavities will fill with bacteria. Another benefit of drinking water instead of colas, teas, and coffee is that it doesn’t stain your teeth.

Reduces Dry Mouth

The problem of dry mouth is caused by a lack of saliva, which prevents tooth decay. A dry mouth is also uncomfortable and an indication of dehydration. Drinking sufficient amounts of water daily resolves dry mouth and supports saliva production, hence few cavities.

Reduces Bad Breath

If you experience halitosis regularly, you understand the embarrassment that comes with it. Poor dental health, built-up bacteria, dry mouth, and dirty teeth all play a role in bad breath. It’s no wonder the mouthwash and products designed to eliminate mouth odor are a billion-dollar industry. Drinking plenty of water throughout the day cleans your mouth and rinses away odor-causing bacteria.

Hydrates Your Gums

Dental health is not only about your teeth. It includes your gums. When your gums are in poor health, it could lead to gingivitis and tooth loss. Drinking water promotes saliva production essential for healthy gums. Proper hydration with water consumption will keep your gums hydrated and plump to protect the root of your teeth.

Conclusion

Drinking water is critical for several health benefits, and your dental health is no exception. If you don’t drink at least 60 ounces daily, start making steps to work your way up to eight glasses a day. Keep filtered cold water in your refrigerator and make it your go-to drink instead of Pepsi, tea, or Coke. These steps will increase your water intake and improve your dental health in no time.

If you have any questions on how drinking plenty of water can improve your dental health, we are here to help.

Call our Austin oral surgery office at 512-327-7233 to request a consultation.


How Do I Get Rid of Bad Breath?

You look good—clean and fresh. Your clothes are pressed and fitted, and it’s a great hair day. But if you open your mouth and a foul odor emerges, forget it; that will be the lasting impression. How do you solve this problem?

More than 80 million people suffer from bad breath, also known as chronic halitosis. It mostly originates from the tongue and gums. It is embarrassing, but treatable. Here are some tips that will keep your breath feeling and smelling fresh.

Brush Twice Daily

When you were growing up, your parents probably instilled this habit in you. Brushing your teeth prevents plaque buildup and helps remove stains. You may want to do an additional round of brushing using baking soda to reduce your mouth’s acidity, thus making it a less welcoming environment for bacteria to grow and cause bad breath.

Floss Every Day

Your toothbrush can’t reach everywhere in your mouth. Food particles can hide in these areas. Flossing will scour the spaces and crevices between your teeth, not allowing bacteria to feed off built-up food debris.

Brush or Scrape Your Tongue

If you want to rid yourself of any residue that may build up between your taste buds and tongue folds, invest in a tongue scraper. This tool is available in your neighborhood drugstore, or use your toothbrush to brush your tongue.

Use a Mouth Rinse

Using mouthwash after you brush your teeth can reduce plaque and kill the germs that cause bad breath, but you shouldn’t use it in place of brushing or flossing. To resolve the issue of chronic halitosis, you need proper oral hygiene, which means brushing and flossing daily and seeing your dentist at least twice per year.

Hydrate

Drinking six to eight glasses of water daily will help keep your bad breath under control. It will wash away food particles and bacteria and alleviate a dry mouth.

Quit Smoking

Let’s face it: Smoking stinks. If you smoke, you might not notice it, but to any nonsmoker, you smell like an overflowing ashtray. If you want good overall health, including oral hygiene, we suggest quitting as soon as possible.

Chew Sugarless Gum

Chewing sugarless gum or sucking on sugarless candy will trigger saliva flow. The additional moisture will wash away bacteria and food debris that cause bad breath.

Eat Raw Fruits and Vegetables

Chewing on a celery stick or eating an apple will speed up saliva flow and reduce bacteria and food particles. Also, an empty stomach increases stomach acids that can cause foul breath. So, munching on these natural snacks will keep your stomach from expelling nasty smelling blasts.

Get an Oral Checkup

If you would like more information about how to resolve bad breath, contact us today, and we’ll be happy to talk with you. Call us at 512-327-7233 or request a consultation online.


Can I really have “Teeth in a Day”?

You may have heard about Teeth in a Day and thought: could it really be possible? We can’t blame you for being skeptical, but it’s true: today’s technology makes it possible to undergo the restoration of a full set of teeth within a single day. The secret behind this remarkable procedure? The latest in dental implant technology.

How Is It Possible?

Before, more dental implants were needed to reconstruct a single jaw. However, new dental materials available today allow the restoration of an entire arch of teeth using fewer implants. During the Teeth in a Day procedure, multiple titanium dental implants are implanted to support an entire arch of teeth, and then a set of prosthetic teeth are fixed to the implants. Usually, a procedure called All-On- 4 is performed for Teeth in a Day. All-On- 4 uses a minimum of 4 dental implants to support the whole arch of teeth. However, the number of dental implants needed will still vary in the case of each patient.

Teeth in a Day Procedure

After your consultation and a CT scan, our highly-skilled and well-experienced experts will create a template from your teeth to serve as a temporary implant guide for your surgery.

The Teeth in a Day procedure is performed by a team consisting of a surgeon, a restorative dentist, and sometimes a prosthodontist (a dentist that specializes in complex dental restorations). They will work together to assess the best dental template that is will work best for aesthetics and function.

A follow up checkup will be required the next day to assess the performance of the temporary teeth for chewing, biting, and aesthetics.

If the temporary teeth deliver a beautiful, natural, and a comfortable smile, and also gives you the freedom and confidence to laugh and eat the food you want, it will be worn for 4-6 months until the final bridge is made.

Get an Instantly More Beautiful You

The All-On- 4 procedure doesn’t just result in a confident and beautiful smile, it can also make you look younger.

Missing teeth can cause the underlying bone to deteriorate. Loss of bone can lead to your cheeks appearing sunken, making you look older than you are. The new set of beautiful replacement teeth will support your cheeks once again.

Teeth in a Day Could Be the Procedure for You!

You can have a new set of teeth that is more comfortable and efficient than dentures. Get a whole new smile within just a day. Find out if the Teeth in a Day procedure is the treatment for your needs by contacting Hill Country Oral Surgery.