Our pediatric dentist in Mission Viejo wants to talk to you about maintaining healthy habits. At our New Generation Dentistry, we practice both pediatric and general dentistry. Currently, we are going through a lot in the world, and instead of our patients being stressed out, we want to help our adult and child patients practice healthy habits. Practicing healthy habits is always essential, and currently, these healthy habits are vital.

Continue Brushing and Flossing

Of course, we want to let our patients know that continuing their usual brushing and flossing is always recommended. Keeping your teeth and gums clean helps maintain overall health. If your body is trying to fight an infection in your mouth, your immune system can be compromised. 

Keeping your mouth free from infection can help your body be strong in case you do come down with a sickness or virus. Remember to brush and floss after every meal. Also, remember to brush for around two minutes in total to get out harmful bacteria. 

Wash Your Hands Frequently

One of the most important things you can do right now is to wash your hands frequently! Think about it really quickly. Think of all the things that your hands touch on a daily basis. Now think about how many doorknobs your hands touch in public places. Have you ever wondered how many other people also have or will also touch the same exact doorknob? It is incredible how much germs and bacteria can be found on door handles! This is why it is essential to keep your hands clean. You never know what you may pick up or put down. 

Keeping our hands clean is one of the most essential and most straightforward steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading sickness to other people around us. It is not only crucial to keep ourselves safe, but we need to also think about the wellbeing of others. 

Germs from unwashed hands can get into food and drinks and can be left on handrails, toys, tabletops, elevator buttons, bathroom keys, and gas pumps. Removing these germs and bacteria or simply washing your hands can help prevent diarrhea, respiratory infections, eye, and skin infections, as well as viruses.

Do not touch your face

Along with washing your hands frequently, we all have to be better about not touching our faces. Did you know that on average, we touch our faces about twenty-three times an hour. People are continually touching their nose, eyes, and mouths, and they do not even realize it. When germs and bacteria make contact with our nose, eyes, and mouths, it can make us very sick. When we touch our face, we are touching mucous membranes, and this causes germ to enter the body and leads to respiratory infections.  

If you feel that you are having trouble with not touching your face, you may want to frequently either wash your hands or use a high alcohol percentage hand sanitizer. Avoid touching your face as much as possible. Not touching your face and keeping it clean can also help with acne issues. If the face is always being touched, bacteria and germs start to grow and get into the skin, causing breakouts. 

Watch where you cough

Since a young age, people have been taught to cover their coughs. Whether people are coughing into their elbow or hands, the goal is to prevent people from coughing on others. This practice is even more so important in these trying times. It is dire that we keep our coughs covered up, and that others hopefully follow the same method. 

Couching is not a bad thing. Your body needs to cough in order to defend itself against disease. When a person coughs, they are pushing out microbes, mucus, and foreign particles from your throat and mouth. Coughing helps to protect the lungs from inflammation and, of course, infection. There are many reasons why a cough can happen, and they can even occur from dust or cold air.

With a virus currently going around the world, we want to be sure that we are protecting ourselves, our loved ones, and even the other humans around us. It is ok to have a regular cough, with that being said, please remember to cover your cough the best you can. After a cough or coughing fit, either wash your hands or use a high alcohol percentage hand sanitizer. 

We hope you found our pediatric dentist in Mission Viejo talks about healthy habits blog informative. We want all of our patients to stay happy and healthy! If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to give us a call. We know a lot is going on, if you have a dental emergency, call us immediately. If you would like more information, please visit our New Generation Dentistry website.