Brushing your teeth

Brushing your teeth is a crucial part of your daily care routine. For a healthy mouth and smile brushing plays a basic role.

It is advised to brush your teeth twice each day.  Soft-bristled toothpaste is recommended.  The size and shape of your brush should suit your mouth allowing you to succeed in all areas of the mouth easily. The toothbrush should be used only for a period of 3 to 4 months. It must be changed immediately when the bristles start flaring.  A bad brush will not clean your teeth efficiently.

Fluoridated toothpaste is recommended for healthy teeth.

A proper brushing technique should be on in our practice for good oral health.

Place your toothbrush at an angle of 45-degree to the gums. The brush is moved in very gentle front and backstrokes. All the surfaces including outer, inner, and chewing surfaces are brushed.  The brush is placed in a vertical motion to clean the inner surface and up and down strokes were used. Brushing your teeth this way is only a part oral hygiene measure

You should also make sure to:

• Clean all the areas of the teeth with floss. This is the area where the food gets dislodged easily and is difficult to clean. The bacteria also reside there easily causing cavities and gum disease. Flossing the teeth helps to remove plaque and food particles in-between the teeth.
• Eat balanced fiber-rich foods. Avoid eating sugary items in between meals.

FIVE STEPS TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH CORRECTLY:

• Use proper brushing technique
• Use the correct amount of fluoridated toothpaste.
• Use a gentle brushing
• Brush on all the sides of the teeth.
• Completely spit out the foam after brushing. You do not need to rinse your teeth immediately

Daily brushing and cleaning between the teeth (flossing) are important because it removes plaque. If the plaque isn’t removed, it might get sticked to the tooth surface and cause gum disease.

BENEFITS:
The main idea of brushing is the removal of plaque that is formed on the tooth surface. Plaque formation takes place after half an hour of tooth brushing. It takes 24 hrs to get mineralized and forms calculus. This is the main idea behind brushing.

BENEFITS OF BRUSHING TEETH AT NIGHT:

When there’s a debate about brushing time, always brushing at night time wins. It has the most benefit. It is advised to brush before sleep. Saliva has the flushing action of food debris and bacteria from the mouth. This happens very well in the daytime. The salivary flow gets minimized at night and the food debris and bacteria are not washed away. They promote gum disease and tooth decay. Thus brushing at night time has more benefits than morning.

8 REASONS WHY WE SHOULD BRUSH TWICE A DAY!

Maintaining a fresh breath:

As you get up in the morning you are fresh for a new start to the day. Brushing at night even makes your mouth fresh in the morning. A little action is needed again to brush in the morning. This will give you a very fresh breath and confidence.

Prevents gum disease:

When brushing twice a day the chance of plaque formation and calculus is greatly reduced in most parts of the teeth. This prevents the occurrence of gum disease.

Removes teeth stains –

Our tooth gets stain frequently from consuming colored acidic foods, tea, coffee, etc. This is removed daily while brushing. Toothpaste contains mild abrasives that do this action.

Reduces your chances of getting a heart attack or stroke – Bacteria in the mouth may have a chance to enter the blood flow and cause bacteremia. This will attach to the walls of the blood vessels. Sometimes they form a plaque. Later it will form clots and may cause acute heart disease.

Saves you money –Proper brushing and scheduled dental visit twice a year not only improves your dental health but also saves money.

Have a healthy baby – According to few studies gum disease has been shown to increase the chance of premature birth and low birth weight. As there are hormonal changes in the pregnancy period even the hormonal receptors in the gums also get altered. There might be a chance of gum inflammation with poor oral hygiene. It is important to maintain good oral hygiene to prevent any risk in the baby.

Prevent Dementia – Some studies have shown that Poor gum health increases your risk of developing dementia.

Those 3 minutes of brushing, twice a day can really save your life and prevent many serious diseases by 30% to 40%.