Old Habits Die Hard And So Do Over 700 Different Species Residing Into Your Mouth!

Acquiring, developing and falling into a habit, whether it’s nasty and unfortunate or good and endearing, may well begin when you are very little, and forming habits to look after and hence to enjoy excellent oral health is no exception. I have come to believe however, that no matter how old, it still would be within the bounds of possibility to change brushing and flossing habits of a lifetime, and I have my reasons.
If you need a few words of encouragement, I very much would like to bring to your attention that over 6 billion bacteria, including over 700 different species, reside inside your mouth. Some promote health, others provoke disease. A reasonable estimate of the number of species that are ‘bad’ is roughly 15 to 20, but that will continue to evolve as we learn more about how these species interact with each other. In other words, your mouth, is a complex community with lots of communication between bacteria of the same species as well as across species and when your teeth feel slimy and in need of a brushing, you’re feeling their presence. Your mouth is a great habitat for these microorganisms since it is constantly moist, has a fairly neutral pH, sufficient food particles, and a balmy temperature.

Now having been provided with all the above mentioned, you may say: “Fine! From now on, I will brush and floss on a daily basis. Would that help me rid myself of those harmful and gross bacteria in my mouth?” I would say: No, and it’s not meant to. What it does though is to shorten their life cycle which is good enough, but it’s merely done on ONE condition. Make sure that that brushing and flossing is done PROPERLY.”
In case of having any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Presumably, our eyes and ears are to receive greater care due to having extreme sensitivity, and since our teeth are healthy, white and strong, deeply rooted in our gums and safeguarded by enamels, they won’t need daily care, right? Horribly wrong, this might be a general presumption of someone who is quite unfamiliar with physiological mechanisms of teeth and gums. For my money however, if you have been taking this relaxed wrong attitude, it might still not be very late to change it, better late than never you know.