Areas of Hygiene Dental: Dental hygiene (sometimes called oral hygiene) is the practice of keeping the mouth, teeth and breath clean.  The process of brushing your teeth will remove dental plaque and tartar.  Dental plaque is a yellowish, sticky film that covers the tooth and gums.  It is filled with bacteria that try to attach themselves to the teeth and then they eat away at the enamel of the teeth which in turn creates cavities.  If the teeth are not brushed on a regular basis, the plaque hardens and becomes tartar.  If the tartar is not removed it can create gum disease, tooth decay and... Show more

Areas of Hygiene
Dental: Dental hygiene (sometimes called oral hygiene) is the practice of keeping the mouth, teeth and breath clean.  The process of brushing your teeth will remove dental plaque and tartar.  Dental plaque is a yellowish, sticky film that covers the tooth and gums.  It is filled with bacteria that try to attach themselves to the teeth and then they eat away at the enamel of the teeth which in turn creates cavities.  If the teeth are not brushed on a regular basis, the plaque hardens and becomes tartar.  If the tartar is not removed it can create gum disease, tooth decay and gingivitis.

Tooth decay is the most common global disease.

Besides brushing, it is important to floss as brushing alone cannot get to the food that finds its way between the teeth.  If the food remains between the teeth it may result in gum disease, receding gums and bad breath." A final step that most people seem to forget is the cleaning of the tongue.  After eating, the tongue becomes coated with bacteria, decaying food particles, fungi and dead cells.  By scraping the tongue or brushing it with a toothbrush, the film, bacteria and fungi are removed and will help to prevent bad breath.

Ideally, brushing, flossing and cleaning the tongue should be performed between 3 to 5 times every day."

Personal: Personal hygiene involves creating and maintaining a daily grooming practice to help diminish the negative effects caused by germs.

Germs are microscopic living organisms that cause diseases.  There are four major types of germs.  These include bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa.

Bacteria are one-celled creatures that get nutrients from their environments in order to live.  They can survive inside and outside of the body.

Viruses are germs that can only survive inside of a host.  Their lifespan is relatively short but can cause a lot of damage.  It is a virus that causes chickenpox, the flu and the measles.

Fungi are multi-celled organisms that love to live and grow in damp, warm places such as between the toes or under the toenails and fingernails.

Protozoa are another one-celled organism that also loves moisture.  They spread diseases through water and cause intestinal infections, nausea and belly pain.

To prevent the effects of germs, good daily hygienic practices and routines should be developed.  

Among those daily practices are:

(a) Hand Washing: Washing the hands frequently can reduce illness.  

(b) Hair: If the hair is not washed on a regular basis (weekly or bi-weekly at the least), diseases and parasites can occur on the scalp.  Dandruff can also occur because

(c) Fingernails and Toenails: Dirt and germs just love to burrow under nails, both fingernails and toenails.  If they get in deep enough, they can cause all kinds of havoc making the nails overly thick or very brittle and they can turn the nails yellow or cause streaking.  In more severe cases, they can cause the nails to rot off entirely.  

(d) Bathing: Dirt and germs like to locate every crease and crevice of the skin on the body.  Simply jumping in a tub or a shower and quickly running a facecloth over the body and then quickly jumping out, isn’t going to do the trick. 

(e) Clothes washing: Those dirty clothes are filled with growing numbers of germs, flaked dead body skin, dust mites and a hundred other things.  Clothes should be washed after every wearing." 

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