Dental Hygiene and Health

Your Universal City TX family dentists at Henslee Dental Team aim to keep your family smiling healthily and happily. Part of keeping your smile fresh, clean, and healthy involves maintaining your dental hygiene through properly flossing and brushing your teeth, and having regular visits to our office every six months for a dental cleaning and dental examination. Both Dr. Henslee and Dr. Hafen agree that most of the unhealthy smiles that come through their doors were the result of poor dental hygiene and care, so let us help you keep smiling with these handy dental health tips!

If you would like to have our Universal City TX family dentists protect and beautify your family’s smiles, please schedule an appointment with us online, or call us at: 210-900-4459.

Flossing your teeth

One of the things that our patients tend to forget to do most when it comes to taking care of their smile is flossing. Flossing is a relatively simple way of cleaning between your teeth, so that your gums don’t get filled with nasty bacteria from food and drinks and cause long-term problems like gum disease or tooth root decay.

So how do you floss?:

• First, wind a good sized length of floss around the middle fingers of each hand
• Then pinch the floss between your thumbs and index fingers, leaving 1-2 inches of length in-between
• Use your thumbs to direct the floss between the teeth
• Gently wrap the floss around the base of each tooth on each side of the gum and pull the floss up

Brushing your teeth

There are many, many different ways that people go about brushing their teeth, and many different toothbrushes and tools available to do it. Universal City TX family dentists Dr. Henslee and Dr. Hafen suggest using an electric toothbrush, as they tend to have rotating bristle heads that clean the teeth more thoroughly than non-electric toothbrushes. If you are concerned about the type of brush that you are using and its effect on your smile, please consult with Dr. Henslee, Dr. Hafen, or one of our dental hygienists.

So how do I brush properly?:

• Place the brush’s bristles along the gumline at a 45 degree angle, so that the bristles are able to reach under the gumline
• Gently begin to brush, using a circular motion along the outer and inner tooth surfaces—making sure to get on top and below the gumline and that each tooth is covered
• Then, place the brush against the biting surface and use a gentle back and forth motion so that the bristles can reach beneath each area on the surface
• Follow up by brushing your tongue to remove odor-producing bacteria

 

I’m interested in seeing my Universal City TX family dentists

Our goal is to make you and your family happy, healthy, and comfortable—and you can rest assured knowing that Henslee Dental Team has been keeping families smiling since 1971, so you know we can get the job done right.

If you live in the greater Universal City, Schertz, Live Oak, Converse, or New Braunfels area and are looking for a highly qualified family dentistry team, schedule an appointment with us online or call us at: 210-900-4459.