5 Decisions to Make in Your Twenties for Lifelong Healthy Teeth

Permanent teeth erupt at age six, which is really where lasting dental hygiene habits need to be established. If you’ve survived your childhood and teens with all your permanent teeth, good job! Before going to your local Spokane dentists to get those teenage braces off, learn what you can do in your twenties to keep those lovelies strong and white for one more decade.

The Wisdom Teeth

The third molars or wisdom teeth, erupt in the late teens to early twenties. For most, this is a painful transition. It used to be that everybody had their wisdom teeth pullout at this stage to prevent likely decay in the next 10 years. But these days, the dental community no longer thinks young people should take out perfectly new, and healthy teeth. Except in the case of impacted molars, where the growth of the third molar pushes and damages the second molar, there is no good reason to take out healthy teeth.

Learn to Care for Your Third Molars

So now, you’ve kept your third molars. What’s next? The reason third molar extraction used to be routine, and it still is in some places, is because they are the teeth that succumb to tooth decay the fastest and earliest. Last permanent teeth to show but first to go. This does not have to be the case if you just learn how to clean third molars. The back of the mouth is difficult to reach, so it’s worth your while to invest in some special tools and brushes to clean your teeth. Some people have longer jaws and have no problem cleaning all the teeth that fit in their mouths. But for everybody else, with gum pockets and flaps, buy a kids toothbrush and cotton buds to reach all those secret good deposits.

Get Dental Insurance

When you were a kid, your parents or your parent’s dental plans paid for your dentist visits. Now that you’re over 21, it’s time to get your own. Most people in their twenties will not need extremely expensive procedures and treatments on the dentist chair. Your teeth are young and still very strong, with no serious problems if you care for them well. But you never know because dentist’s bills can get really expensive when you need them.

Accept Your Special Teeth

The 20s are a time of self discovery and acceptance, this includes accepting your own teeth. Everybody’s teeth are different, it might not be perfectly white or perfectly straight, but they’re healthy and they’re yours. Increasing numbers of dental patients pay thousands of dollars on dental aesthetic treatments. It seems normal to just get braces, a whitening treatment or veneers, when in fact, pure white, commercial ready straight teeth is not that common in nature, we just think they are because of the media culture.

If you do achieve self-acceptance, you’ll save yourself thousands of dollars in cosmetic fees, and spend more on the important things in life in your 20s. Savings can go to paying student loans or tuition to further your education and increase your qualifications, for instance.