Learning to Manage Your Dental Problems

Three Reasons To Invest In A Dental Mirror

24 January 2019 by Charlotte Beck

Taking an active interest in your dental health involves attending regular dental cleanings, as well as buying the right accessories that you need to care for your teeth at home. One dental care device that you might want to think about purchasing is a dental mirror — a small, circular mirror that is positioned at an angle at the end of the long handle. This is the same device that your dentist and dental hygienist use to look in your mouth, and you can buy a basic version of it inexpensively online. Here are some reasons that you won't regret investing in a dental mirror.

Investigating Problem Areas

Sometimes, you may develop a sore tooth or sore area of your gum, but not be able to see the location in question when you open your mouth in front of the bathroom mirror. Having a dental mirror — and standing in front of a mirror to see the reflection of the small mirror — can help you to see what's going on inside of your mouth. While you're obviously not trained to know what you're looking at, you may occasionally see something that concerns you enough to call your dentist. Without this mirror, you might simply shrug off a problem and hope that it goes away.

Checking Tartar Build-Up

It never hurts to see how much tartar has built up on your teeth. Tartar is more common on the backs of your teeth, as this area is more difficult to brush. With a small dental mirror, you can take a look at key areas, including the backs of your upper and lower front teeth. Checking for tartar is an effective way to assess the overall health of your mouth, as well as gauge the job that you've been doing of cleaning your teeth. If you're concerned about the build-up of tartar in a given area, you may want to contact your dentist.

Assessing Bleeding Areas

When you brush or floss, you'll ideally not experience any blood when you spit into the sink afterward. However, this isn't always the case, and you may be aware of bleeding after either task. It's useful to know where the bleeding is coming from, and your ability to better identify this spot improves with your use of the dental mirror. You can then check to see what might be making you bleed — perhaps it's food that has lodged under your gumline, or maybe there appears to be a lot of tartar in the area.

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