Top Tips
ORal Hygiene
You Must Maintain Proper Oral Hygiene To Avoid Tooth And Gum Diseases. At The Courtyard Clinic Our Ethos Is Prevention Is Better Than Cure So Please Follow Our Top Tips:
How to keep good oral hygiene
- Get routine dental cleaning of your teeth and gums. Visit for cleaning every six months at least.
- Reduce your carbohydrate intake. Bacteria on the teeth will feed on the sugar from carbs and cause further damage. Reducing carbs will take food sources away from bacteria.
- Be wary of high acid diets, as these can also damage teeth via erosion.
- Use fluoride in your toothpaste, avoid any home remedies, fluoride free products or charcoal toothpastes.
- Brush and floss/tepe regularly! This is vital for tooth and gum health.
- Use a tongue scraper to remove the bacterial film here.
- Mouthwash separate to brushing.
Tooth brushing technique
- Make sure you always use a soft-bristled toothbrush.
- We recommend an oral b electric toothbrush if you are going to invest.
- Use fluoride-rich anti-decay toothpaste. Ask our dentists if your toothpaste has enough fluoride in it.
- Brush in a circular motion, holding the brush at a 45-degree angle to the gum.
- Brush for a minimum of 2-3 minutes, twice a day!
- Brush your gums as well as your teeth, to sufficiently attack bacteria on there as well as the teeth.
- Make sure you don’t brush so hard that your gums recede to the root.
- Spit out the excess toothpaste, but don’t rinse after with mouthwash or water. Let the residue sit in your mouth.
Flossing technique
- Use a floss around 18 inches long and wrap it around one finger to maximize effectiveness.
- Floss each and every tooth, using a “C” shape with the floss each time you do.
- Floss in the pockets of your gums.
- These instructions will remove plaque from behind your teeth, and in areas your brush cannot normally reach.
- Do this twice a day with brushing.
How to use Tepes
- Tepe between each tooth.
- Use your interdental brushes every time you brush your teeth, twice a day.
- Use a brush that is the right size for your teeth, gently work the brush into the gaps between your teeth and brush it back and forth to remove plaque.
- As part of a hygiene appointment, we will size your mouth up for the correct tepe brushes for each area in your mouth.
Mouth washing:
- Not a must but a great habit to form.
- Use mouthwash on a separate occasion to brushing, for example at lunch time or when you are back from work/school.
- Do not use after tooth brushing.