oral hygiene

American

noun

the state or practice of keeping the mouth cavity in a healthy condition, as by a regular program of brushing and flossing the teeth combined with periodic examinations by a dentist.

oral hygiene British

noun

another name for dental hygiene

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Dentists also have concerns about what pouches mean for oral hygiene.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2024

The study found that though this community has generally poor oral hygiene, it also had low rates of dementia and cardiovascular disease.

From Salon • Mar. 26, 2024

She said she thinks the current NHS dentist waiting times are "shocking" because "oral hygiene is very important and should be a service that everyone is entitled to easily".

From BBC • Jul. 14, 2023

Now, thanks to the poor oral hygiene of that period, her teeth are helping illuminate a vanished world of bacteria and their chemical creations.

From Science Magazine • May 3, 2023

Brushing my teeth is very important and not just because of the proven connection between poor oral hygiene and heart attacks.

From "Counting by 7s" by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023