It can feel easy to keep up with your oral care routine at home, but what about when you’re constantly on the move? Whether you’re traveling, working, or just busy getting from place to place, maintaining your oral health should always be a priority.

How can you keep your mouth fresh and healthy throughout the day while you’re away from your normal oral care products and routine? Here are a few tips that will impress your dentist during your next visit!

Stash a Toothbrush in Your Car (or Desk or Purse)

Keeping a toothbrush in your car, desk, or purse gives you the opportunity to brush your teeth whenever you need fresh breath throughout the day. Having a toothbrush nearby also allows you to never miss a brushing, so even if you’ve forgotten to brush at home in the morning, you can still brush when you get to where you’re going!

Brushing after a meal can be beneficial, but it’s essential that you wait at least 30 minutes after eating to brush. Research shows that acidic foods and drinks can weaken tooth enamel immediately after a meal, therefore increasing the chances that your tooth enamel would be damaged from brushing [1].

Keep Floss Handy

You can also keep floss with you or in your bag. Flossing is easy to do almost anywhere and can remove food particles and plaque from between your teeth, therefore leading to fresher breath. Some flosses are even flavored with mint to give you an even bigger boost of freshness.

Not flossing your teeth, especially on a regular basis, can contribute to chronic bad breath as food and bacteria can get wedged between teeth and accumulate, therefore causing a bad smell or taste [2]. Floss at least once a day for best results!

Pack Healthy Snacks

Did you know that packing healthy snacks or having a healthy lunch can actually help clean your teeth? Crunchy foods such as carrots, apples, and celery can help remove plaque from your teeth and give you a fresher smile.

You can also take advantage of a fresh salad topped with all your favorite fruits or veggies to give you a cleaner mouth—your coworkers will thank you for skipping the garlic mashed potatoes or onion rings!

When All Else Fails…

It’s always a good idea to keep some sugarless gum with you. Sugarless gum can stimulate saliva production as you chew, which has been shown to help reduce plaque buildup and even bad breath [3].

Choose sugar-free gum with xylitol in a flavor you enjoy. Whenever you’re not able to brush or floss, chewing gum can help you avoid dry mouth which can lead to cavities. Fun fact: drinking water has the same effect!

By keeping some essentials with you, you can have a clean and healthy smile throughout the day and keep up with your oral care routine at home. Maintain a healthy smile on the go with the above tips!

Sources:

1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14684979
2. https://www.urmc.rochester.edu/encyclopedia/content.aspx?ContentTypeID=85&ContentID=P00883
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3469898/