The Best Oral Hygiene Products to Maintain a Healthy Mouth

I've been using Colgate Total Gel toothpaste since they first came out with it. The commercials for the Colgate Total insist that it offers protection for up to twelve hours, which seems like a bit of an exaggeration. However, after using this toothpaste, my teeth really do seem to stay cleaner longer than with other brands of toothpaste. Personally, I think some toothpastes taste horrible, but that isn't the case with this. Wanting my teeth whiter, I bought the Colgate Total Plus Whitening Gel when it came out. My dentist feels that whitening toothpastes maintain your current tooth color more than they lighten it, but over time, I did see a difference.

Wanting my teeth to be even whiter, I bought the Crest White Strips. As a free gift, the Crest Whitening toothpaste came in the box with the strips. Not wanting to throw it away, I decided to use it. I could see a difference with the Crest White Strips, but after I had used them up and was only using the Crest toothpaste, it was like my teeth were reverting to the color they used to be. After I used up the Crest Whitening toothpaste, I went back to the Colgate Total Plus Whitening toothpaste. I saw an immediate difference after only a couple of days. For whitening, the Colgate Total Plus Whitening toothpaste is the best toothpaste in my opinion and when combined with the Crest White Strips, they work together to make your teeth as white as they can be without professional help. (See my review of the Crest White Strips for more information on those.)

I used to use Listerine mouthwash. Like their competition used to joke in their commercials, I thought the burning sensation meant that it was working. But after so many years, I finally decided I had enough of the torture. My dentist office told me that I should be using Act mouthwash because it has fluoride, which your teeth need. And Listerine doesn't have this. I used the Act mouth rinse until they came out with the Act Restoring Mouthwash. I see the most results from using this product. And a strong mouthwash isn't necessary to fight bad breath, at least not for me. I also feel that it helps to keep my teeth white, though, this may be my imagination. Overall, the Act Restoring Mouthwash is an excellent product.

I hate dental floss. As a kid, I rarely flossed my teeth because I couldn't stand how the floss would almost cut into my fingers. It never failed to leave marks on my fingers that would take time to vanish. I was thrilled when I first saw the Reach Access Flosser advertise. What an inventive product. Why didn't someone could up with this sooner? Now, I love to floss my teeth.

Now that I use all of these products, I rarely have any cavities. And my dentist has noticed that my teeth are whiter too. You can't ask for much else than that.