Oral Hygiene At The Workplace

While still young, you may have heard that school is your second home. As you grow into the world of work, your work place becomes your second home, where you spend up to half of all of your waking hours. This is why it is important to have things that make your workplace feel like home, of course within reasonable boundaries. Many people bring photos of family, house plants, coffee mugs and other paraphernalia in an attempt to make the office feel more like home. Most of us eat lunch at our work as well, and this is why taking care of your teeth is something that you will need to do here as well. True, you probably should not bring an entire oral hygiene kit with you to work, but there are a couple of tricks and tips that can make you feel fresh, and that actually will help with maintaining your teeth.     

Brushing

Don’t forget to brush your teeth in the morning, regardless of how late you are for work. It only takes 2-3 minutes, but the positive effects last for hours. Eating a good breakfast is also important, as this is the best way to make sure our brains and bodies have enough fuel for the rest of the day. If you can, you should brush your teeth a little bit after you grab something to eat, as acidic foods and drinks can weaken your enamel, and if you brush while the enamel is weakened, you may actually harm your teeth.  

Down With Sugar!

A hard day at work usually translates to several cups of coffee and tea per day, usually with a few heaps of sugar to go with it. This is bad for your teeth, as is honey, you may be better off without it. You don’t have to give up sweet flavors, you can use xylitol, sweeteners or fructose based sugars. If you can, grab soft drinks that do not have sugar, and try to not drink energy drinks, as these contain many harmful chemicals besides sugars.

Water Uber Alles

The best solution is to drink water when you are thirsty. Ware prevents plaque from forming, and hydrates better than any sugary beverage.

Snacks

Often times unconscious, we tend to snack when certain kinds of jobs are in need of doing. Snacks can make monotonous tasks more interesting, but try and not make a habit out of snacking. If you simply cannot stop snacking, make sure you have healthy things to chew on. Bring some chopped up fruits and vegetables, puffed rice or just an apple from home. A study has recently shown that office workers have worse teeth than other folks in their age group, and one of the main reasons is because of snacks and unhealthy foods quickly grabbed during work hours.

Chew Gum!

Chewing gum, if not taken to the extreme, is good for your teeth. Chewing gum enhances the production of saliva, which can help clean the teeth of food debris, and helps in dealing with bacteria as well. Perhaps a meeting or an important consultation is not the time to start chewing gum, and only buy sugar free chewing gum!

Small, But Effective

In our crazy sped up world, marketing gurus have thought of everything; besides having tissues and deodorants that can fit in a purse, there are also mini toothbrushes and bite sized doses of toothpaste available as well, and dental floss doesn’t really take up that much space either. These can be very useful, and can help when trying to remove pieces of food stuck between teeth.

images: 1.