Six steps to improve your dental health

Improve your dental health - 6 steps to healthy, clean teeth

Finding an NHS dentist may be getting more difficult, but even going every 6 months means we only spend 30 minutes a year in the chair.

We've also talked to Dr Henry Clover, senior dental advisor at Denplan, and got his expert advice on keeping your teeth healthy.

To make sure your whole family's protected, print out and follow our six simple steps to healthier, stronger, cleaner teeth.

- If you're looking for dentists in your area accepting new customers have a look at NHS Choices.

Floss regularly

Ideally, we should all floss every day. It reaches the areas that a toothbrush can't get to and gets rid of harmful plaque between the teeth and by the gum - if this isn't removed, it can lead to what's called periodontal disease. Often, you need specialist dental treatment to get rid of this

For people who are more at risk of gum disease, it's even more important to floss regularly. You have a higher risk if:

you are a smoker - get advice on quitting with our Stop Smoking Clinic
you are diabetic
you have previously been told you have gum disease

How to floss

1. Wrap a piece of floss about 18" long twice around each middle finger
2. Holding it tight, gently slide the floss up and down between each tooth
3. Curve the floss around the base of each tooth, beneath the gumline
4. Use a clean section of floss for each tooth
5. Don't snap the floss on your gums
6. Don't 'saw' with the floss and move it too heavily

If you find flossing too difficult for whatever reason, you could try using interdental brushes, which you can buy at most chemists. They look like mini bottle brushes and do the same job as floss, but are easier to handle.

By Rob Mansfield