Good Teeth: They Don't Have to Be in Your Genes

You can find a lot of information easily about ways to decrease your risks of things like cavities, gum disease, and tooth injuries. However, another very important thing for you to focus on is how to keep your mouth looking great. When you are self-conscious about the look of your mouth, it can affect the way you interact with others and even how successful you are in your career. Here are some of the lesser spoken-about things that you can do to help you achieve a better-looking mouth:

Your wisdom teeth can cause crowding

When your wisdom teeth come in, they may come right in without any problems. However, a lot of people experience a variety of issues when it comes to their wisdom teeth. For some, their teeth may come in sideways, needing to be pulled. For others, wisdom teeth can come in, but there isn't enough room for them to do so without affecting the other teeth. When this happens, it can cause the wisdom teeth to push your existing teeth closer together which can cause them to become crooked. This is just one example of why annual dental visits to a dental office can be so important. A dentist may catch the issue before permanent damage is done and pull your wisdom teeth before they cause crowding and crookedness.

Drinking water is important to your mouth in many ways

When you drink water, it helps rinse down plaque-causing bacteria, as well as anything on the surfaces of your teeth that can cause them to end up stained. Drinking water also helps to keep you fully hydrated, so you can decrease your gum disease risk and help to keep your lips moisturized and looking great. Water also helps combat bad breath.

Chewing gum can help your mouth in many ways as well

It's very important to note that the gum you should be chewing is sugarless, otherwise you will be exposing your teeth to unnecessary amounts of sugar. However, when you do chew sugarless gum, it causes you to salivate more which breaks down plaque-causing bacteria and rinses it away. Chewing gum also pulls bacteria right from the surfaces of your teeth that would normally sit there stubbornly. Chewing the gum also helps you to work out your lower facial muscles to help keep your mouth looking tighter and younger for longer. It also helps your breath smell fresh as just one more added bonus.