Flossing and The Other Essentials of Oral Hygiene
The next time you even think about skipping brushing your teeth or flossing, remember this. At this very moment, there are roughly 300 species of bacteria alive and thriving in your mouth. All told, there are billions of them, and many of them produce tooth decay. Your best weapons against that army of billions? That toothbrush and floss, and your daily oral hygiene habits at home. Bacteria and your mouth Bacteria in our mouth recycle what we eat and drink by consuming the sugars in our food. Bacteria especially like sugary foods and starches — contained in pasta, bread, and cereals, for example — that are easily converted to sugar. Many bacteria are essential to our health, but it’s the byproduct of their activity that causes problems for our teeth. When bacteria consume sugars, they produce a biofilm as a waste product. We know that biofilm as dental plaque. Dental plaque produces acids that degrade tooth enamel which results in cavities. Bacteria in that plaque produce toxic