Keeping Up Your Oral Hygiene While Traveling

When you’re at home, it’s easy to create an oral hygiene routine that includes brushing, flossing, mouthwash, and perhaps other activities such as water flossing, whitening strips, and tongue scraping. When you travel, however, you sometimes want to skip a step or two.

An overabundance of activities might make you too tired to keep up the routine. A desire to travel light might make it hard for you to pack all the items you need. Well, just because you’re going away from home doesn’t mean you have to skimp on the tooth and gum care. Here are some ways you can keep your mouth fresh no matter where you are.

Think about proper storage for your toothbrush

Don’t just stick your toothbrush in a plastic bag, especially if it’s wet. A wet toothbrush breeds bacteria. The advantage of travel toothbrushes is that they often come with covers that are ventilated, Also, they can fold into a smaller profile. This makes them more convenient, more sanitary, and easier to stow close to you.

Get travel sizes and keep them close

Toothpaste and mouthwash both come in small packages that you can easily take with you wherever you go. Often, you can find multiple brands in the trial-size section of your favorite big-name discount store. You can also get travel toothbrushes, and these come in their own storage containers. Often, a set will include several items. Put these in a place that’s convenient so you can access them in flight or on the road.

Pack floss alternatives

Flossing is important, and although floss is quite portable, it can be messy to use. Instead, pack your travel bag with disposable floss picks that can be used while you’re in transit. You only need one hand to operate these, and they come in packs of large numbers, so you can keep them around and use them discreetly whenever.

Consider mini-brush accessories

Fortunately, travel-friendly oral health items are easy to find. Proxabrushes, for example, are stick-like mini-brushes designed to go between teeth. You can also find small mini-brushes like the Colgate Wisp that feature a freshening bead in lieu of. These one-time-use items usually come in small, disposable packs. They’re small enough to keep a bunch in your purse or toiletry bag for bathroom touch-ups between meetings.

Try some treats for your teeth

When you’re traveling you may not always be able to brush your teeth after a meal. So, pack sugarless gum to stimulate the flow of saliva to cleanse your teeth and stick to bacteria. Drink green tea, which researchers say may destroy cavity-causing bacteria in your mouth. Talk to your dentist about other ways to keep your teeth healthy on the road.

You may be taking a vacation, but you can’t take a break from oral hygiene! However, the odds are in your favor, because every effort you make to clean your teeth helps. If nothing else, try to go through a complete oral care routine sometime during the day at a time that’s convenient for you. Then, you can use your spare time, between meetings or activities, to freshen up with travel-sized tools. And remember, many hotels stock complimentary toothbrushes and toothpaste, in case you forgot yours.