Brushing is essential in everybody’s life. By brushing correctly, not only are you taking care of your teeth, you are also fighting the bacteria that live in your mouth, driving bad breath, plaque, gingivitis, periodontitis and a whole lot of problems away, and overall lengthening the life of your natural teeth a big time.
But in order to accomplish this, you need to know some basics about brushing.
Choosing the right toothbrush
First of all we have our trus
ty tool: the toothbrush. This is an important topic as it gets direct contact with our mouth every day.
It is highly recommended by Los Algodones dentists that you use a soft brittle brush for your teeth. With this brush you will be able to get rid of all the plaque and food particles from your mouth without harming your gums or your teeth’s enamel.
Another thing to take into account is the size of the brush. Not only does it have to fit nicely in your hand, it also has to have a head small enough to reach all the difficult places in the back of your mouth.
It is also recommended to wash your toothbrush after using it, and leave it in an open area for it to dry. If it stays wet and not rinsed, bacterial will grow.
Finally but not least, replacing your brush every three to four months is of utmost importance. And even sooner if the bristles happen to be worn out!
Brushing your teeth efficiently
Now that we have taken the toothbrush technicalities away, now comes the practice. Brushing is not only about swaying your toothbrush left and right until you feel like it is enough. It is more than that! But before that we must get some things out of the way:
First, make sure not to use too much toothpaste, as it will make things more messy. It will prompt you to spit it and be done brushing earlier. Also increases the chances of ingesting it, which is not healthy for your body.
Second, do not brush your teeth immediately after ingesting acidic foods and drinks, as you risk harming your tooth enamel. The best is to wait a good 30 minutes before doing that. Meanwhile you can wash your mouth with water as to remove food residues.
And as to how to brush your teeth, it is quite simple. You must follow the golden rule: two minutes each time, two times a day. Of course you can brush more times if you so desire! But the best times are after waking up and before going to bed. This is because when we sleep, it gives the bacteria plenty of time to wreck havoc in our mouth.
And here we give you some tips as to how you should do your brushing:
- Remember to brush for at least 2 minutes! You can keep an eye on your clock or listen to a song to achieve this.
- Use short, gentle strokes with your toothbrush. Do not forget to give your gum line some attention as well as cleaning the inner and outer part of your mouth and tongue.
- Treat every tooth with personal attention. You know what they say, if you want a thing done well, do it yourself. As such, be thorough with each tooth when brushing, remove as much plaque and food residues as possible!
Make sure that your toothpaste includes fluoride, as it will help keep your teeth strong in the long run.
How not to brush your teeth
Time for a quick overview of how not to brush your teeth. They might sound silly, but there are people out there who do not take the job seriously. Shame on you, beautiful people.
- Brushing too hard that your gums bleed. The bleeding may be caused by other reasons, such like gingivitis. Still, you must take care of yourself!
- Not replacing your tooth brush in a long time. This might be a bit bothersome, but worn out toothbrush just do not do the job right.
- Not washing your toothbrush after every use, as well as keeping it wet. This will make it a bacteria breeding ground. Beware.
And that’s it for the day. Remember you can contact us to visit Los Algodones for the best dentists, trained in the US as well as fluent in English! At only 7 miles away from Yuma, AZ in the US-Mexico border.