Dental Health

Dental Care for Beginners – How to Brush Your Teeth Correctly

Let’s face it – most of us don’t know how to brush our teeth correctly and we’re too afraid to admit it at this point. Kids are often taught this at young age, but everyone forgets this and that every now and then.

Brushing teeth correctly isn’t something hard – it’s the bad habit we formed over the years that’s hard to break. If you want to remember, follow the easy steps I’ve lain out for you in the sections below:

  • Choose the proper tools

You shouldn’t pick the first toothbrush you see on the stand. There are numerous types and sub-types of toothbrushes, and only some will be good for you. For example, there are three most-common strength types – the strength regards the bristles firmness (or softness). If your gums are easily irritated, you should consider softer brushes.

On the other hand, there are two basic types of brushes regarding their power – manual brushes (regular ones) and electric brushes. Even though the latter are somewhat more expensive, they’re way more efficient in all aspects. If you want to buy a perfect toothbrush, you may consider to have a look at oralcarehome.

  • Maintain (or replace) the toothbrush you use regularly

Now, it’s a fact that all bristles wear out after a while. This leads to a substantial loss of flexibility, which means that your brush will be less effective overall – you’ll need to invest more time in brushing teeth, you’ll have to swipe with more force, and what not.

Of course, there are ways to prevent this. If you maintain your toothbrush well, the bristles will endure for longer. By maintenance, I mean that you keep them out where they can benefit from a constant supply of fresh air (out of the package, away from moist environments).

Even regular maintenance won’t make sure that your toothbrush pulls through forever – those bristles will eventually become “dull”. Having a couple of replacements at home is your best option to keep safe, even if your brush gets lost or broken.

  • Switch to fluoride-based toothpaste

Fluoride is that one ingredient which will help you get rid of your plaque problems. This ingredient also provides a substantial boost to your tooth enamel. Now, there’s only one thing you should worry about once you switch over to these toothpastes – you should never swallow fluoride.

It’s not poisonous per se, but you might feel a slight stomach ache after a while, so it’s not imperative that you avoid it, only try not to if you could.

  • Use the dental floss

Flossing is that one habit you’ll want developed if you haven’t already. Brushing your teeth with a toothbrush will only get you so far – even if you’re using those sci-fi ultrasonic toothbrushes, there’s absolutely no chance that you’ll get out 100% of that leftover food off.

Using a flosser will get rid of the smallest bacteria, plaque, and leftover food you might still have stuck in your teeth, but it’s important that you use it before you start brushing your teeth.

There are only a couple of things you want to remember. First, never floss roughly, as the line could snap between your teeth, irritating your gums in the process. Secondly, people with bracers should find specialized mouth flossers.

  • Don’t overdo it with toothpaste

Most people think that using large blobs of toothpaste will help them cover all teeth more easily – this is painfully wrong. By using large portions of toothpaste, your glands will produce more saliva, forcing you to spit too early, not to mention the increased risk of swallowing more fluoride.

Small amounts can do the job just right, but this is not a rule – if this becomes painful for you, brush your teeth more gently, or add a speck of toothpaste on top.

  • Find the right angle

Bristles of your toothbrush are pre-positioned at one angle so that you can find your right angle of brushing more easily (which means that they’re flexible only up to a certain point). What’s more, sweeping the bristles at an improper angle might be painful and messy.

Ideally, you should start straight down the gum lines and perform a sweeping motion followed by a straight motion. Change quadrants after a couple of minutes and repeat until you’re done.

  • Invest a minute or two beyond your usual brushing time

Most people find brushing their teeth as a chore, especially at the time before they go to sleep. Regardless of how weak you feel, you should never rush this process.

Spending more time to brush your teeth will benefit you greatly – each quadrant deserves at least 15 seconds, which brings us to approximately 3 minutes of total brushing time.

Once you develop the habit of brushing your teeth for “longer” periods of time, it will become a second nature to you, and you’ll no longer feel as if you’re “doing a chore”.

  • Brush the tongue & rinse to finish up

Brushing your tongue is the last step of the cleaning process. Our tongues are like homes to numerous bacteria, which is why it is important that you don’t forget to brush it as well.

Of course, it’s imperative that you brush your tongue gently – there are millions of nerves and nerve-endings which can get damaged should you press down too hard. If you’ve ever had the problem known as “the bad breath”, now you know how to handle it.

As you finish up, all that is left is to rinse the toothpaste from your mouth. Most dentists recommend that you do it with some water, although there are people who simply spit the paste out.

Conclusion

Forgive me if I’ve made the process as plain as cleaning teeth so complicated, but there are certain details most of us have missed. Then again, you can’t learn a thing you think you know, so I hope that this article was helpful for those who admit that they needed it.

In essence, cleaning and brushing teeth is a fairly simple job, for as long as our cleaning habits are positive and firm. Check back whenever you feel that you’ve forgotten something, as bringing up old habits might be harder than you think.