Keep your Teeth Healthy

Brushing your teeth is an essential step to healthy dental care. Regularly removing plaque from teeth and gums, prevents tooth decay or periodontitis in the long run. This detailed article will help you to understand how you should brush your teeth properly with a suitable toothbrush, as well as which brushing technique can cleans best.

After meals and sugary foods residue mixed with saliva is left on the teeth. Plaque creates a breeding ground for bacteria and other microorganisms that convert sugar into acids and remove minerals from your tooth. Over time, your tooth becomes porous: holes appear as well as bacteria that settle onto the gum line leading to gingivitis or protracted periodontitis. If you take care of your teeth properly, you will prevent such diseases from happening.

How often and how long should you brush your teeth?

Do not eat anything at all after you have brushed your teeth, and make sure to brush them twice a day – the first time right after breakfast and the second time before bed.

Brush your teeth for at least two minutes. However, the duration depends on the health of your teeth and gums and the size of your interdental spaces. In some cases that can take up to five minutes. With an electric toothbrush, you usually clean your teeth more thoroughly and more quickly because it removes more plaque in the same time-frame as a manual toothbrush. It is particularly important that you clean your teeth from all sides.

Can you brush your teeth for too long?

The duration of brushing your teeth depends on the condition in which they are in. However, if you brush for longer than five minutes and also apply too much pressure to the toothbrush, you are not doing them any good. Dentists warn against cleaning your teeth for too long because it will cause problems with enamel and gum health.

How long should you wait to brush your teeth after eating?

Wait half an hour to an hour after eating before brushing your teeth. The tooth enamel regenerates during this time, so the acidity of the drinks or fruit you have consumed will not be as harsh on them. Scrubbing your teeth immediately after consuming acidic food may damage the tooth surface instead, which is why it’s best to wait first!

Manual toothbrush or electric toothbrush?

Whether you use either a manual or electric toothbrush, you can achieve a good result with both. You might find it easier to clean with an electric or sonic toothbrush because they do most of the work for you. In studies, many people found that using an electric toothbrush was better than using a manual one. It saves time and cleans very thoroughly as well!

You can effectively brush your teeth with a manual brush if you use the right brushing technique and have bristles with the right hardness.

Tips for choosing the best manual toothbrush:

• Brush head size: small enough to easily reach all tooth surfaces
• Material: made of plastic (natural bristles are not recommended as they are hollow on the inside and bacteria can fill them)
• Bristle hardness: to have healthy teeth, the best brush is one with either soft or medium-hard bristles. Hard bristles can remove plaque very well but are only recommended for people who already have healthy teeth and gums. Soft bristles are the choice of most people with sensitive gums because they won’t irritate them like hard bristles do.
• Handle: comfortable to hold with a non-slip surface

Differences in electric toothbrushes

When choosing between a rotating or sonic toothbrush, you should know that the type of brush head is different. Rotary toothbrushes have round brushes that move in circular motions to remove plaque while sonic toothbrushes vibrate with up to 60,000 movements per minute. Sonic brushes also press down on your teeth and create suction which cleans them by loosening plaque and washing away food particles so brushing doesn’t take as long.

Advice: Change the brush heads of your electric or manual toothbrush every two to three months. Some toothbrush bristles are dyed blue, so you can see when it’s time to change them. Some models have an integrated replacement symbol that flashes when you need to replace the head.

Toothpaste with or without fluoride?

Good toothpaste is one of the keys to a clean and healthy mouth. Make sure you get toothpaste that contains fluoride in order to protect your teeth from decay. Adults should use about a grade of 1,000-1,500 ppm (parts per million) for their daily dose; 500 ppm is appropriate for children under six years old who brush twice a day; and if they’re over 12-years-old, then it’s best to get the 1,000 ppm variety. You can find out how much fluoride is contained in each tube of toothpaste by looking at the label on its packaging!

Make sure that children do not ingest too much fluoride through toothpaste and use special children’s toothpaste with a low dose of fluoride.

Toothpastes, which are designed to whiten teeth, contain so-called abrasives. These “sand” down your teeth and do more harm than good. By the way: The RDA value indicates how much abrasion a toothpaste will have on your teeth. Toothpastes with an RDA between 30 and 70 should be used only every once in a while for special occasions. Anything else is just too harsh.

Tip: If you don’t see what the “RDA” value is on the packaging, contact that company directly and ask for it.

Can you brush your teeth without toothpaste?

Yes, that is possible. To mechanically clean your teeth from food residues and plaque, you need a good toothbrush and dental floss. Toothpaste however supports the care of your teeth by contributing to a clean feeling in the mouth and a fresh breath. The fluorides it contains also strengthen enamel and prevent tooth decay.

Is activated charcoal good for brushing teeth?

Activated charcoal in toothpaste is said to remove tooth discoloration and whiten teeth, but it’s been argued by many dentists that the long-term benefits are controversial. The reason: when you clean your teeth with the rough activated carbon particles they not only remove discolouration from the surface of a tooth, but they also wear away layers of enamel over time. Your teeth can become sensitive to heat and cold; more susceptible to decay; or acquire new stains even quicker than before cleaning them with activated charcoal!

Tooth brushing techniques at a glance

The key to proper dental care is the brushing technique. Properly cleaning your teeth systematically, consciously, and not missing any part of them will ensure you are taking good care of your mouth.

General tips for brushing your teeth properly

• Always brush your teeth in the same order, for example, start with the inner surfaces of both jaws. Then move on to the outer and chewing surfaces. Then you will not miss a spot.
• Apply little pressure to the toothbrush. Tip: Press your toothbrush onto a kitchen scale until it reads 150 grams. This way, you will have an idea of how much pressure you should put on the brush when brushing your teeth.
• Always remove plaque and leftover food from “red to white”, i.e. from the edge of the gums to the teeth.

Tooth brushing technique according to Bass

Dentists recommend brushing teeth with this technique as it is one of the best ways to maintain good dental health.

• Place the toothbrush at a slight angle (45 degree) to the edge of the gums.
• Brush two to three teeth at a time.
• Move the toothbrush back and forth quickly to loosen the plaque on and between the teeth.
• Brush away from the gums toward the teeth to remove loosened plaque and food particles.
• Hold the toothbrush vertically to scrub the inside of the teeth.
• Clean the outer and inner surfaces of the teeth according to this principle, and then brush the chewing surfaces.
• Repeat the movements in each section about 10 times.

How do you properly brush your teeth with an electric toothbrush or sonic toothbrush?

Rotating-oscillating toothbrush heads rotate in a circular motion while they spin. This action is designed to brush each individual tooth, and the head will go along the gum line when you are brushing your teeth.

Sonic toothbrushes use their elongated brush head to clean several teeth at once. Place the sonic toothbrush 45 degrees to your gums, just like a manual brush would be placed. Move the sonic toothbrush over an area for a few seconds and then systematically go from chewing surfaces, outer surfaces and finally inner surfaces of your mouth in that order.

Good to know: Most electric toothbrushes have an integrated timer that signals the optimal time to clean between two and five minutes with a beep. Some also warn if you are brushing too hard.

How do you brush your teeth with braces?

If you or your child have fixed braces, make sure to brush teeth for about ten minutes twice a day.

• Rinse your mouth with water first to remove larger bits of food.
• Brush each individual tooth with circular movements.
• Ortho brushes are used for cleaning wires, bands and brackets. They work well with fixed braces because they fit between the wire and tooth to clean it thoroughly. Brush up-and-down vertically in between the teeth to remove any plaque that has collected behind them.
• Use Superfloss, a special dental floss, or interdental brushes for the spaces between the teeth.
• Apply a fluoride gel to your teeth once a week without rinsing afterwards.

Brush the spaces between your teeth properly

Many people neglect the spaces between their teeth and rarely clean them, but nearly a quarter of the tooth surface is taken up by that space. Bacteria often form here, which can lead to many different dental problems.

Make sure not to neglect the spaces between your teeth by cleaning them once a day with interdental brushes or dental floss, in addition to brushing.

• It is best to use unwaxed dental floss in order to clean the contact point between two adjacent teeth.
• Wrap around half a meter of dental floss around your middle fingers. Use your thumbs and forefingers to position the floss and slide it between your teeth.
• Form a C shape with the floss around the tooth and pull it gently from your gumline to the top of your tooth.
• Unroll a new piece of dental floss from your fingers for each gap.
• You can also use interdental brushes for larger spaces under the contact point of two teeth.
• Super-Floss is perfect for threading through dental bridges. It’s thicker than other flosses, so it can take care of any plaque that may be under the bridge.

Further recommendations for perfect oral hygiene

These products complement regular dental care:

• Oral irrigators: They loosen coarse food residue, but do not remove plaque and can even flush bacteria into the gum pockets.
• Tongue Cleaner: This sweeps your tongue from back to front, removing bacteria that can attack your teeth.
• Mouthwashes: The fluoride-containing rinses have a disinfecting effect and ensure fresh breath.

A six-monthly professional tooth cleaning is advised to keep your dental health in check. Your dentist, or a prophylaxis assistant, will remove tartar and bacteria from under the gum line while also giving you tips on how to brush properly. The difference between using an electric versus manual toothbrush can be seen in the amount of plaque that they are able to clean off teeth after just one brushing session! Your choice of toothpaste is important for oral care too; some may further help with bad breath while others might whiten teeth more effectively than others!