Cleaning Teeth

Brushing removes plaque from the surface of your teeth and helps prevent decay and gum disease. As plaque begins to reform the minute you finish brushing you need to brush regularly, ideally twice a day. After breakfast and last thing at night before going to bed.

 

Which toothbrush should I use?

Choose a size, shape and colour that allows you to reach all of your teeth.  Brand is normally as relevant as colour.  Brushes should be replaced when they look worn, shaggy and tired. 

 

Aim the bristles at the gum line at about an angle of 45 degrees.  Push, jiggle and clean each group of teeth.  Don’t do big horizontal scrubbing movements form front to back.  They will damage the teeth or gums. Clean every surface of every tooth; inside, outside, top and bottom.

 

It should take 2/3 minutes to clean your teeth properly. Time yourself.

It’s a good idea to occasionally change your usual pattern.  Most people brush the same way all the time and always miss the same spots.  Try starting in a different place. Try reversing your usual pattern.

 

Cleaning between your teeth.

If you want to clean the whole tooth then you need to clean between the teeth. There are two main ways of doing this. Floss or interdental brushes

 

Floss.  Break off about 30 cm.  Wrap the floss around your middle finger and hold it between your thumb and index finger.  Slide the floss between two teeth going down one tooth as far as possible.  Pull the floss up and go down the other tooth. Work your way around your mouth. Don’t forget the back surface of the back tooth.  It is best to always begin and progress in the same way.  That way flossing can almost be done subconsciously.  It is a habit that takes a few weeks to acquire.  Once you have experienced the way your teeth feel after regular flossing it is difficult to cease flossing. It is harder to stop than to start.

 

My teeth bleed when I floss them. Is it because I’m not doing it properly?

If you are  flossing for the first time your gums will probably bleed.  Persevere and the bleeding will decrease or cease.  Flossing of teeth does not damage or harm the teeth in any way, even if there is blood on the floss.

 

If the floss shows signs of wearing then go to a new section of the floss. If the floss rips or snags it may mean you need a replacement filling. Sometimes when flossing you will pull out a filling.  The floss did not cause this filling to break.  All it did was alert you to a problem that already existed.

 

Which floss is the best?

They all do the job.  Even dental tape. I prefer ‘Ultrafloss’ by Oral B but any floss is good floss.  Waxed is stronger than unwaxed.

 

An interdental brush is a small brush that goes between the teeth. As you get older, another thing to look forward to, is bigger gaps between your teeth.  An interdental brush will fit in these gaps and often clean these areas more efficiently and easier than floss. There are a variety of brands but unlike toothbrushes they do seem to vary between brands.  ‘Piksters’ is a brand that is cheap and sturdy. 

The trick with ‘Piksters' is getting the right size. The gaps between your teeth are not uniform.  They vary in size.  Big in certain areas of your mouth and smaller in other areas.  Some people can find one size that can be used between all teeth but other people need to use different size brushes in different areas.

 

Electric toothbrushes

The majority of people clean more efficiently with an electric toothbrush. They clean more evenly and they clean the difficult to reach areas better.  With an electric toothbrush people don’t tend to over clean and vigorously scrub some of the more accessible areas.  However it is still possible to effectively clean your teeth with a manual toothbrush.

 

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s271768.htm

 

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/moments/s268342.htm

 

http://www.erskinedental.com.au/products/piksters.html

 

http://www.answers.com/topic/dental-floss?cat=health

 

http://www.answers.com/topic/toothbrush?cat=technology