 Hello everybody, Andrea here with Dental L. I have been a dental professional for about 17 years, and I currently have my own dental hygiene practice. So I have a mobile dental hygiene practice where I go into patients' homes to clean their teeth and do dental hygiene exams, sealants, teeth waning, all kinds of fun stuff. So it's truly awesome. But the most common question that I get from patients is, how can I prevent cavities? Either for adults, children, seniors, nobody wants cavities, how do you prevent them? So I'm going to teach you guys how to prevent them at home. And trust me, this is what we want. Some people also say, well, the dental professionals aren't going to tell us how to prevent cavities because then they're not making money. Trust me, there are other ways we make money. We don't like cavities either. Trust me, we're not just telling you you have cavities if you don't have cavities. We don't like cavities either. And with the few simple steps, maybe not simple, but if you're consistent with it, that's all you need to do to prevent cavities at home, you can do it. So then whenever you go to the dentist, to your dental hygienist, we will tell you, no cavities, things look great, you just need your teeth cleaned. Wouldn't that be fantastic? No needles means happy patients, right? So let me tell you a couple of things. The first step is you absolutely need the right toothpaste. There are different toothpaste out there for different things if you have cold sensitive teeth, if you get a lot of stain, also if you get a lot of cavities. So without mentioning companies per se, I want you guys to look for a toothpaste with xylitol and fluoride in it, okay? You need both of them. Even as a child, you need xylitol and fluoride. So I'm going to briefly talk about that. So what xylitol does is that helps to limit the bacteria in the mouth first. If there's limited amounts of bacteria, you cannot get a cavity, it's that simple. But then on top of that, you also need a sodium fluoride. What that does is that actually helps to re-mineralize the teeth, to make the teeth stronger. So if there is a little cavity in there to begin with, or if you have deep pits in your teeth, there's microscopic cracks, the sodium fluoride will actually help to re-mineralize those areas so you can't get a cavity, or it helps to lightly seal up the cavities that you have. So that's why you need a toothpaste with both. That can be hard to find. The ones that I suggest, I love this toothpaste by Oral Science. Now, I do not work for the company, they're not paying me to say this just so you know, but I find patients ask me, well, which one do you recommend? You don't need this one, but this is the one that I recommend. Sorry guys, that's the French side. I'm just waiting for it to focus. Do you guys see where it says 10% xylitol and 1.1% sodium fluoride? Sorry guys, it's really hard to focus. I apologize, that's a little bit better, isn't it? So this is the one that I suggest for patients who are cavity prone. You don't necessarily need an anti-cavity toothpaste if you're going to the dentist every six months and we haven't told you for 10 years you have a cavity. If you never get cavities, you don't need to be as picky with your toothpaste. But if you're that patient where we always tell you, we have watch areas that we're keeping an eye on, a very tiny cavity, too tiny to do a filling, but we're watching them. You need a toothpaste with xylitol and fluoride. You do not need a certain company, feel free to go to the store and just look for one on the back with xylitol and fluoride. A lot of toothpaste do contain sodium fluoride, but very few contain xylitol. You do need both, not one or the other, but you need both even for young children. A lot of parents think, well, why am I giving fluoride to my young child? They can't spit yet. If they're cavity prone, that little bit is going to make a big difference. Yes, they might swallow some of it, yes, but they're not going to get sick if you're only giving them, say, half a pea size amount. If they're swallowing a whole tube of toothpaste, anybody's going to get sick. But if it's a pea size amount, you're fine. This is just something I recommend. Toothpaste with xylitol and fluoride. Number two is if you're an adult, so children don't need this necessarily, but if you're cavity prone, you want a mouthwash with fluoride and xylitol as well. So again, I do not work for this company, but oral science, I just want to show you guys the difference. So see how it says 10% xylitol. This says 0.2% fluoride, which you can't see, so it's probably not going to focus. And what I like about this one is it's a neutral pH. So neutral pH means it brings the mouth back to a neutral pH. You can get a cavity once the mouth reaches a pH of 5.5. That's not a lot, you guys. If you have a coffee, just to give you some random facts here, if you have a coffee, your pH is now about 2.5. Remember what I just said. When you get a cavity, the mouth only has to be 5.5 pH. 2.3 is much lower. It's very easy to get a cavity. If you're cavity prone, you're going to get a cavity just like that. But if you're using a mouthwash after your toothpaste, it just is a greater chance to not get a cavity. So in a perfect world, you guys, toothpaste with xylitol and fluoride and a mouthwash with xylitol and fluoride after you brush, you should be brushing twice a day. I brush personally three times a day. If I can, if I'm at home, I'm going to do that. That's even better. Always use a soft toothbrush. That's another thing. You need the right toothbrush for you to brush the teeth to take away the plaque. If you're brushing, but not well, or not using the right toothbrush, you're not taking away the plaque well. If you're not taking away the plaque well, that eats away at the tooth causing a cavity. Acids eat away causing cavities. So not only does sugar cause cavities, but plaque causes cavities as well. Sugar is my next point. If you have a sweet tooth, if you're eating sugar, everything these days has sugar in it. If you're not drinking water, it probably has sugar in it. So another tip is always have water throughout the day and with every meal. If you're eating a meal and you order a pop or some alcohol or some other type of beverage, order a water as well and have them both. Like I will have a sip of pop or a sip of my wine, something, but I will then take a sip of water because all of those beverages are very acidic except for water. Water has a neutral pH. You cannot get a cavity if the pH inside the mouth is neutral. So see how it's all kind of blending together. My next point is have regular checkups by your dentist and dental hygienist. If you are going every six months, at least, if you have a tiny cavity, we can actually fix that for you before applying a filling. There's a liquid. We can now put on that little spot that's a watch area or a tiny cavity that kills the bacteria causing the cavity. It's not a filling. It doesn't make it look any better, but sometimes that's all you need if it's a really, really tiny cavity. We can prevent it from getting worse. But if you're not seeing the dental hygienist or the dentist on a regular basis, these cavities can get worse. They get bigger. They become holes. And then $600 later, plus a lot of needles later, we're fixing the cavity. So see us on a regular basis and that's the best thing to do. So you guys, I hope that helps. And of course, I should mention also make sure to floss every day. If you don't like to floss, I love the water pick. I will leave the link for you guys down below. I purchased my water flosser from Amazon. Those are the ones that I personally recommend to patients. You don't have to spend $100 on a water flosser, but I love them. The one that I buy is $50 to $60 depending if it's on sale. That helps to clean in between the teeth to get the plaque away. I do have a full video. In fact, I have lots of videos on the water flosser. If you want to do a search in my channel to learn more about that. But in a nutshell, you want to use the right toothpaste, the right mouthwash. You want to floss every day or use the water flosser or both. But that would be fantastic and get regular checkups by your dental professional and you are laughing, you will not get cavities. For kids and adults, seniors, it works the same. So I hope this helped you guys. Comment below with any questions and please click like. That does help me in my channel and make sure to subscribe if you haven't yet. Thank you guys, have a nice day and I'll talk to you guys very soon.