Complete Guide to Teeth & Mouth Care

Teeth are on show every time you speak and when you smile. An attractive smile is an important part of beauty.

Brushing is the first thing in the morning to freshen your mouth and last thing at night so that you remove food particles which may linger and decompose during the night. Do not make the mistake of cleaning your teeth and then having a hot milk drink in bed. Cleaning should be done after your milk drink before going to bed.

Brush teeth thoroughly three times a day after meals. Using a firm tooth brush, brush your teeth with up and down movements, not with ones that go from side to side. Tackle the back teeth first, both their fronts and backs. Now brush the side teeth, working with up and down strokes. These help to dislodge particles of food by getting the bristles right between the teeth. Rinse your mouth well with an antiseptic mouth wash several times during the tooth brushing. Make sure that you massage your gums too with the brush, to stimulate circulation. The whole brush­ing procedure should take at least three minutes. The choice of tooth-paste depends on your preference, but beware of using harsh tooth powders to remove stains. If the teeth are not white enough, try using a tooth paste containing peroxide and leave it on the teeth for several minutes before rinsing off. Alternatively try dipping your tooth brush first in water, then in peroxide and finally into salt. This makes an effective emergency tooth cleanser if you run out of paste.

For cleaning the teeth, there are some other ingredients and recipes. Mix 3 tablespoons bicarbonate of soda with 2 tablespoons salt (sodium chloride) and use as a tooth powder. You can add pulverized orange and lemon peel to the mixture to whiten the teeth. The ashes of burnt bread, charcoal, burnt rosemary and a mixture of, honey and salt and eye meal (a kind of food grain closely al1ied to barley or millet) are also effective to clean the teeth. Strawberries can also be used to clean the teeth. These are rubbed over the teeth.

How do you know whether your breath is fresh? One good way to check is to cup your hand firmly over your mouth and nose. Now blowout your breath into your hands and breath in through your nostrils very quickly. Avoid giving offence with bad smelling breath by careful mouth hygiene. This includes regular dental inspections to detect and deal with decaying teeth.

Here are a few simple mouth wash recipes. The best is rose-water or strong infusion of mint. Cloves are also used to sweeten the breath.

Homemade Mouth Wash:

Take the following ingredients, boil them together and use as a mouth wash when it cools.

¼ cup vinegar
½ cup wine
¼ cup honey
1 teaspoon powdered cloves