How to Keep Your Teeth Healthy During Travel

My first suggestion for regular travelers is to invest in a toothbrush that is easy to travel with. This sounds like a no-brainer, but invest in something like a Quip toothbrush. These are pretty affordable, even if you are grabbing one for each member of the family. The starter kits include the electric toothbrush, replaceable brush heads and toothpaste. There are refill plans as well, which deliver new heads and toothpaste every three months. To top it all off, Quip is easily travel-able and comes with a brush head cover, so you can easily toss it in your carry-on.

Getting into the finer points of dental hygiene, make sure to carry floss with you. This, like the toothbrush tip, sounds simple, but I speak from experience when I say it is easy to forget floss. Just grab a package of standard floss, not the picks, and toss it into your regular carry-on to make sure you’re never without it when you travel.

In a similar way, mouthwash can be tough to remember. Add in the fact this important tool is a liquid and more difficult to get through TSA screenings, and I can understand the urge to simply forgo mouthwash for a few days. I suggest a similar strategy to floss. Go to your local grocery store or Target and stock up on a few travel-sized bottles. Toss these into your carry-on and you will always have minty goodness.

The best way to keep strong habits abroad is to keep strong habits all the time. If you are used to brushing, flossing and mouthwash, it is much more likely you will bring that habit on the road with you. Then, the next time your dental hygienist asks if you floss regularly, you won’t even need to lie.