Brushing Break-down

Although brushing your teeth may seem to take no thought at all, it is important to review the proper techniques. You may be surprised to find out that your good intentions of brushing may actually be harming your mouth. While brushing your teeth is healthy and helps your teeth and gums stay healthy, you must exercise the proper etiquette to make your time worth while.

What is the Proper way to Brush?
*Hold your toothbrush at a 45 degree angle from the tooth surface. This allows the bristles to go in between each tooth and reach under the gum line.
*Brush in groups of 2-3 teeth at a time, in a small circular motion. Once those couple of teeth are clean, move to the next group and repeat. Brushing side-to-side will actually wear down your gum line and cause serious problems in the future.
*Brush the outsides and insides of the teeth, on both the top and bottom. Make sure you also clean the chewing surface of the teeth to get all the food out from the crevices.
*To reach behind your front teeth on the top, point your toothbrush vertically and use the bristles on the end of the tooth brush.
*Don't forget to brush your tongue. This will get rid of bacteria as well as help your breath smell fresh.
A wonderful animation of this process can be found at the SimpleSteps to Better Dental Health website.

What toothbrush is right for me?
Choosing a toothbrush is partially a personal preference. The style, color, or promises of a toothbrush do not matter as there has not been any research proving that any of these features improve the removal of dental plaque.

The most important aspect to look for when choosing a tooth brush is that is has soft rounded edges of the bristles, the head itself should be small, about 1 inch by 1/2 inch in size. Soft bristles are favored by dentists. The medium and hard bristles are more damaging to the gum line and are not recommended. It is important to get a toothbrush that fits your mouth. The bristles can be tiered to reach all tooth surfaces and in between teeth.

Toothbrushes should be changed every 3-4 months. If you are sick, it is smart to change your toothbrush after you are feeling better as the bacteria may still live on your toothbrush.

How often should I brush?
It is recommended that one brushes after every meal and snack. Some dentists recommend keeping a toothbrush at work or in your backpack to increase the number of times your brush.

Brush at least two times a day for at least 3-4 minutes each time. Brushing with the radio on for a full song would be equivalent to the recommended time interval. It is more beneficial to brush two or three times a day for 3 minutes than to bush more frequently for less than a minute.

If you brush with fluoride toothpaste in the morning and at night, simply brushing with water after lunch at work would be adequate.

If you only choose to brush once a day, brush before you go to sleep. The secretions from your salivary glands are what combats a lot of bacteria throughout the day. When you are asleep, the process slows, thus allowing more bacteria to grow and build up into plaque. Dr. Dan Peterson informed on his website that the streptococci bacteria that helps lead to tooth decay can multiply up to 30 times overnight if you did not brush before going to bed.