You do it every morning. You’ve done it for years. But are you brushing your teeth wrong? Even more importantly, is incorrect tooth-brushing actually being counterproductive, or actually harmful to your teeth? Our Eastwood dental specialists deliver insights and suggestions.
Far Too Fast and Furious
Most of us remember the early days of our tooth-brushing life. The hesitation. The complaining. Kids the world over wonder why on earth they should both sticking this hard, awkward set of bristles into their mouth with some acrid paste. Now that you are older, and presumably, a little wiser, brushing is habitual. It is almost done unconsciously. You stumble out of bed, yawning, and put that toothpaste on your familiar toothbrush. Then you begin to scrub. And, bit by bit this habitual, routine practice may have fallen victim to that pressure which invades most of our daily lives: busyness.
But busy brushing is a mistake. Our Eastwood dental team see the consequences of it every day.
Busy brushing is usually fast, furious, and frenetic. The speed and force applied to your teeth and gums is not only potentially harmful, it is actually counter productive. After all, what is the purpose of the brushing ritual? You do it to remove plaque, bacteria, and food-particles. The reality is that this gunk is not removed any better with greater force or speed. The reality is that too fast and furious tooth brushing can weaken enamel and hurt your gums.
Dr Tang’s Tip: Take your time. Gently massage each tooth. Don’t use a quick and rapid motion
Dr Tang’s Tip:
Stick with the softer toothbrushes. If you have some strong stains or discolouration, its best to visit your dentist. You will have to change softer toothbrushes more frequently, but that is actually a good thing. Frequent replacement of your toothbrush prevents them from collecting bacteria.
Tough, Rough, and Bristly
Rapid and rushed brushing is a mistake that is often compounded by another misconception about tooth brushing. It is another issue that our Eastwood dental practitioners often advise patients on. This misconception begins well before the daily or nightly ritual of toothpaste and scrubbing even commences. It begins at the store. There are so many options for toothbrushes these days – they come in every size, texture, shape, colour, and technological form possible – that in your confusion it is easy to reach for a hard bristled brush. You think it will give your teeth a good scrub. You imagine the rough bristles will clean your teeth in half the time of softer bristles. You believe soft bristles are weak and inefficient, much like soft bristles on any other household brush.
They are not. Your teeth are totally unlike the kitchen sink.
Just as gentle pressure is all you need to remove plaque, bacteria, and wayward particles in your mouth, so too soft bristles are equally effective as medium or hard bristles in removing the unwanted detritus from your teeth and gums. In fact, our Eastwood dental experts advise that these rougher and tougher toothbrush can cause oral health problems. The enamel that protects your teeth can be stripped away. Your gums can recede, exposing your roots, leading to greater sensitivity, greater risk of cavities, and an unpleasant appearance.
Round and Round We Go
Another is mistake is in the action we use to clean our teeth. Of course, we all have our own techniques. Each member of our Eastwood dental practice has his or her own technique. But for some reason most people seem to tend toward a circular motion. Perhaps this comes from constant television ads showing people brushing their pearly whites by moving their hands round and round, round and round. But just as excessive force and rushed brushing can be harmful, this circular motion can be quite unhelpful. The aim of careful, gentle, and effective brushing of teeth and gums is to massage the surface in such a way to remove unwanted substances. The circular motion can not only miss certain parts of your teeth and large parts of your gums, it can also repeat the motion on one spot too frequently, again threatening enamel.
Dr Tang’s Tip: The best way to clean your teeth is to first angle your toothbrush head toward the gumline. Second, use gentle, short, and only slightly circular strokes that push up or down toward the gums. Third, make sure you don’t saw back and forth – simple repeat these massaging strokes several times over each tooth.
Avoid the Gums
We call it a toothbrush for a good reason. We focus on using it on our teeth. This focus sometimes means we avoid the gums altogether. Undue attention to the teeth and neglect of the gums is a failure to understand the importance of the pink, cushioning substance that supports our teeth. Periodontal treatment, often performed at our Eastwood dental clinic, focuses on the harmful effects of gum disease and other gum problems. At some point in our lives, we have all experienced the pain of clipping our gums or the problems of bleeding gums. This might actually encourage you to stay away from your gums when we brush. But just as you need to use soft bristles and a massaging motion on each of your teeth, you can’t avoid massaging our gums. Clean and healthy gums can spare you from the painful impact of periodontitis.
Dr Tang’s Tip: Continue the soft, massaging stroke of your teeth onto your gums. Don’t apply too much pressure. Make sure you also gently massage the gums at the back of your mouth.
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02 9804 8382
Address
Suite 1/148-150 Rowe St
Eastwood, NSW
Australia 2122
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Mon: Closed
Tues & Thurs: 9am to 6pm
Wed: 10am to 2pm
Fri: Closed
Sat: 9am to 1pm
Sun: Closed