Brushing Teeth Techniques - Some Tooth Brushing Mistakes || Health Fettle ||

Brushing Teeth Techniques - Some Tooth Brushing Mistakes

Tooth brushing is a daily activity and it is also essential for maintaining healthy oral hygiene. Yet many are unaware that they are committing some serious tooth brushing mistakes.

Brushing Teeth Techniques || Health Fettle ||

Some common tooth brushing mistakes people inadvertently commit

Using an unsuitable tooth-brush

“Your toothbrush has to be of the right size for your mouth. Its handle should be good enough to provide the leverage to move it smoothly inside your mouth. In case you have to make an extra effort to insert the toothbrush inside your mouth, then it is not of the right size,” Dentist says. Likewise, the handle should also have to be comfortable. Both manual and electric toothbrushes are available in the market.

             “It is immaterial whether you use a manual or an electrical one for tooth brushing,” Dentist says. If you brush properly either of the two will do.

Using a toothbrush with faulty bristles

Toothbrushes come with both straight and angled bristles. So, is it a fact that one is better than the other? Dentist answered this query, “It is the way you use the bristles which is important rather than the bristles themselves”.

           Using hard bristles may damage the gums. So, the Dentist recommends the use of soft bristles. “The bristles should just be able to remove away plaques without damaging the gums,” the dentist says. According to the dentists, bristles made of animal hair may not be good enough.

Improper duration of brushing

According to the Dentist, the tooth brushing should be done for two to three minutes. It should also be done twice or even thrice a day as the longer duration between brushing may facilitate the bacterial action which would lead to the formation of plaques and inflammation of the gums. But generally, people neither brush for two minutes nor do it twice daily. That is why the dentist advises people to brush each quadrant of the teeth and gum for half a minute. For this reason, many companies manufacture toothbrush with inbuilt timers in it.

Frequent and hard brushing

It is true that brushing should ideally be done thrice a day. But too much brushing of teeth can also be harmful. Brushing for more than four times in a day can expose the gums and result in irritation of the tooth and damaging the enamels of the teeth.

Improper tooth brushing

Do not brush your teeth horizontally. Use short strokes vertically up and down. While brushing the gum lines, the brush should be held at a forty-five degrees angle to it.

Take care to brush the inner surface of the teeth and the tongue as well.

Brushing Teeth Techniques || Health Fettle ||

Brushing only some part of the gum and teeth

Many people indulge in brushing the same part of the teeth only while neglecting the other areas. This should be avoided. All the parts of the teeth and gum should be brushed uniformly. This can be achieved by beginning the brushing from different parts of the mouth.

Ignoring the inner side of the teeth

Like in the outer or frontal side of the teeth, plaques also form in the inner side of the teeth. But people often fail to brush the frontal teeth, especially the backside of the inner side of the teeth. This can surely damage the teeth. So, care should be taken to brush the inner sides of the teeth as well.

Not cleaning the toothbrush properly after brushing the teeth

Apart from proper brushing of teeth, taking adequate care of the toothbrush is also as important.

       The dentist says that people often do not clean the toothbrush properly. So, when they brush the teeth next time, the old bacteria again get into the mouth. So, it is imperative that you clean the toothbrush properly with water after brushing.

Not drying the toothbrush after brushing

A wet or moistened toothbrush facilitates the growth of bacteria in it. The shape of the bristles also changes as you brush if they are wet. By this, the toothbrush becomes unfit for use in no time. “The wet bristles of the toothbrush act as the repository of the bacteria. It is advisable to dry the brush and recap it after use,” the dentist says.

Brushing with the same brush for too long

“The toothbrush should normally be changed every three or four months. It should also be changed if the bristles become unfit for tooth brushing,” advises the dentist. But the time interval alone should not be the guiding factor in this regard. The condition of the toothbrush should also be taken into account. “Once the bristles become frayed and hard, it is better to change the toothbrush. It is not difficult to know its state just by visual examination,” the dentist says. Some of the toothbrushes come up with some color indicator for the purpose.

Brushing Teeth Techniques || Health Fettle ||

Tooth brushing has to be done correctly in order for us to have good oral hygiene and be healthy, make sure you do it right.