Your Teeth During Cold And Flu Season

When flu season arrives, it is important to make sure you follow a lot of tips to help prevent yourself from getting the flu. Some of the things you can do to help decrease your chances of getting the flu include using hand sanitizer during the day, using handy wipes to wipe down cart handles, getting the flu shot, avoiding crowded places when possible and wiping down the surfaces of your home regularly. You also want to follow some good dental tips during flu season and you can learn about some of them by reading the information here:

Stay on top of dental care and dental tool care – It's always important to make sure you stay on top of your daily dental care routines, but it's even more important when you know that the flu is going around. Along with making sure you keep your mouth healthy and clean, you also want to put more into keeping your dental tools clean. Make sure you are routinely boiling your toothbrush or replacing it. Also, don't allow the toothpaste to touch the bristles of your toothbrush when applying it, especially if you share the toothpaste with other family members. Always replace your toothbrush at the end of an illness.

Choose the right cough drops – If you do start to get a sore throat or a cough, then you may want to use cough drops in order to get some relief. If this is true, then you should put care into selecting the right cough drops. Using a cough drop without sugar is going to be much better because it won't leave your teeth being constantly exposed to sugar the whole time the cough drop is in your mouth and even after.

Wait to brush your teeth – If you do end up getting sick and you are vomiting, you want to make sure you don't brush your teeth right after you throw up, even though this will more than likely be the very first thing that you want to do. When you vomit, strong acids will come up in your mouth from your stomach. If you brush your teeth too quickly, then you will be scrubbing those acids right into the protecting coating on your teeth and this can cause them to become weaker. A good rule of thumb is to instead rinse with water and wait about a half an hour before you follow through with brushing.

Contact a clinic, like Rupp and Grabowski Family Dentistry, for more help.


Share