11 Feb Preston Supreme Dental Tips for The Perfect Valentine’s Day Smile
It’s Valentine’s Day, and you want everything to go right.
But life is filled with embarrassing moments, and many of them occur because we aren’t aware of something. Bad breath is a classic example of this.
When you don’t even know you have it – and most people aren’t going to clue you in as they are too polite – the condition can remain, affecting all your relationships.
And on Valentine’s Day, when you want some relationships to be romantic, you don’t want bad breath breaking in and ruining your day.
Which is why Preston Supreme Dental is here to help you defeat bad breath on Valentine’s Day.
What Brings On Bad Breath?
This is an important question because if you know what causes bad breath, you can avoid it. So here are some of the most common causes of bad breath:
Food: Garlic, onions and strong spices enter the bloodstream, reach the lungs, and then enter the breath.
Braces or dentures: Food gets stuck.
Health problems: Common colds, lactose intolerance, kidney disease and diabetes, are some conditions that can cause bad breath.
Medications: Certain drugs and medicines dry out your mouth; others break down in the body and release chemicals that create bad breath.
Mouth infections: Canker sores, gingivitis, herpangina, tooth decay, thrush, and other oral ailments are accounted for here.
Poor dental hygiene: Not brushing or flossing leaves food particles stuck between teeth and increases the production of bacteria. Not visiting your dentist for regular cleanings is also a path to poor dental hygiene.
Tobacco products: Do we really have to say anything more about smoking?
What can you do to fight these problems? Some things, like medication, may not be subject to change, but most cases can be affected.
First, get a scale and clean from Preston Supreme Dental. A teeth cleaning helps get rid of bad breath and plaque buildup. Plaque buildup is one of the biggest causes of bad breath because it harbours smelly bacteria.
More about cleaning at Preston
Drink plenty of water. Water controls the bacteria in your mouth by helping to keep your mouth clean. To keep your mouth functioning at its best and keep your breath fresh and clean, you should drink 48 ounces of water a day.
Sodas, bottled beverages (iced teas) and sports drinks often contain citric acid, which contributes to bad breath and wears away tooth enamel. In most cases, for dental and oral health, drinking water is a great choice!
Avoid too much alcohol. An April 2018 study in the journal Microbiome, found a higher concentration of “bad” bacteria linked to gum disease–a bad breath trigger–in volunteers who reported drinking alcohol. Besides that, alcohol can trigger acid reflux, which causes stomach acid to creep up into the throat, and that acid smells terrible.
But if it comes to Valentine’s Day and you haven’t had time to make lifestyle changes or visit us at Preston Supreme Dental for a scale and clean, there are still some steps you can take to optimise your breath on a date. Preston Supreme Dental has broken these strategies into three convenient sections:
Before the Date
- Brush your teeth — and tongue.
- Floss twice: in the morning and before your date. This removes any pieces of food or debris that might be stuck between your teeth.
- Use mouthwash or a mouth rinse to beat back the bacteria living in your mouth temporarily.
- Similarly, eat yogurt or other dairy-based foods at breakfast. This replenishes the good bacteria in your stomach and has no offensive odour of its own.
During Dinner
- Order foods that don’t affect your breath. This means avoiding foods that cause bad breath such as onions and garlic, as delicious as they might be.
- Drink lots of water along with your other beverages. This is a particularly good strategy if you are drinking odourful drinks like strong red wine.
- If you left your mints behind, chew on some of the garnishing herbs/vegetables. The garnish on your dinner plate can help to neutralise bad breath by battling the smelly sulphides given off by bacteria in dental plaque.
- When dessert comes around, avoid chocolate cake and instead select a dessert full of oranges, apples, or berries. These fruits improve your breath by stepping saliva production up
- Skip the coffee and substitute sip lemon tea. Lemons do wonders at neutralising bad breath!
- Bring a toothpick or floss and head to the bathroom to make sure nothing has lodged between your teeth. Then rinse with water.
- It may seem tempting to brush, but remember you should wait a half hour or so after a meal to brush safely.
After Dinner
- Reduce upset stomach to ease burping and bad breath, especially if you suffer from acid reflux. There are different OTC medications available for this purpose.
- Chew gum with xylitol to fight bad breath after dessert and coffee are done.
Preston Supreme Dental offers teeth whitening treatments for Valentine’s Day! There are two teeth whitening options offered in Preston Supreme Dental assuring you to achieve the sparkle you want for Valentine’s Day. For more information, click here.
Our Promotions Include
GAP FREE – General Check-up, Scale and Clean, X-rays and Fluoride treatment (with any health insurance)
*for new patients only
$590 Teeth Whitening Zoom in-chair Treatment
Call us at (03) 9478 7708 and visit us at 243 Murray Road in Preston.