With the changes in our daily lives because of COVID-19, it is easy to get out of your daily routines and let some important things go. During this time it is really important to focus on your mental and physical health, including good dental hygiene. Here are a few helpful dental routines to maintain during #StayHome.
 
1. Brush twice a day - morning and night
Plaque can be really damaging to your teeth and cause long term dental problems. By brushing twice a day, you can remove those plaque-causing bacteria and prevent tartar buildup. Tartar buildup is plaque that has hardened on the teeth and needs to be professionally removed by your hygienist. We will be able to take care of this once we can see you in our office for your routine dental hygiene visit. Brushing also helps prevent gum disease, which is essentially an infection of your gums.

If you are concerned with tartar buildup or are experiencing sore gums, painful chewing, bad breath that won't go away or sensitive teeth please, contact us to see if you need to be seen for a dental emergency.
 
2. Floss like a boss
We know flossing is not on your Top 10 favorite things to do every day - which is why so many people choose to skip this oral health necessity. But we know that flossing is incredibly important to ensure you are cleaning off buildup between your teeth where a brush just cannot reach. Flossing daily helps prevent gum disease and even fight off bad breath by removing trapped foot particles. 

The best part - it only takes a minute to do.
 
3. Eat (and drink) a healthy diet
Those sugary and fattening foods put our oral and overall health at risk as does drinking coffee, sodas and those fruity cocktails. It is highly recommended to eat fruits, vegetable, lean meats, and nuts not only for your body, but for your mouth as well.  We all love a drink from time to time but excessive consumption of alcohol or sugary drinks can really damage your teeth. It is best to limit these types of beverages. For healthier drink options and ones that won't discolor your teeth, drink water, tea, and milk.

This is a unique time for us all but keeping up with your dental hygiene should still be a crucial part of your daily routine. By neglecting your oral health throughout this time, you could possibly damage your teeth and gums which could cause financial hardships later.

In an effort to support national efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, our practice is taking the following steps to help assure your health and well-being and that of our community:

• We are following directives from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as a way to limit patient and staff exposure to this virus.
• Your health, and the health of our dedicated staff, matters to us, so going forward we will suspend all non-emergency care for three weeks.
• Patients will be seen only for urgent and emergency dental needs.

 
We will contact you soon to reschedule routine hygiene appointments. If you are already scheduled for an urgent issue, we will contact you the day before your appointment to discuss your health status, health screening protocols and confirm whether the appointment should be kept. Of course, please call us right away if you have a dental emergency or need immediate care.
 
The safety and well-being of our patients continues to be our primary concern. We will continue to monitor the status of COVID-19 nationally and within our community and keep you up-to-date regarding our plans to reopen for business as usual.
 
We urge you to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. We can be reached by phone at (937) 653- 5359 and will respond as soon as we can.
 
Thank you,

Urbana Dental Smiles

If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our office at (937) 653-5964.