Understanding Root Canal Procedures

Brushing Your Teeth: Are You Doing It Right?

24 May 2016

Diane Mason

Daily routines can become second nature sometimes, and over time you might not pay much attention to it anymore. The daily practice of brushing your teeth is an important one for your oral health, but you might be making some poor decisions and developing bad habits along the way without even realizing it. Pay attention to the three pointers below to ensure that you're taking care of your teeth by having a good toothbrushing regiment.

Keep it Brief, but Not Too Brief

Like a lot of brushers, you might do your brushing in the morning before getting out to work. As a result, you may run your brush over all the teeth quickly and think you're done. This, of course, might not be great for your teeth, as you aren't taking enough time to brush every single tooth effectively. Your brushing routine should take about two minutes.

It's also wise not to go too much further than that. Brushing your teeth too much can also be bad for your teeth; there is some evidence that 10-20% of people brushing their teeth too much are damaging their teeth.

Use Your Mirror

After years and years of brushing your teeth, you might look out the window as you brush or look at your skin to search for blemishes; you might even use your phone or tablet with one hand while brushing with another. You may look at everything but yourself as you brush.

To bring your attention back to yourself and be more aware of what you are doing as you use your toothbrush, enlist the help of your mirror. Watch your hand as you move the brush around, ensuring that you're reaching every surface and getting to those teeth in the back. With more careful attention to the way you brush, you can keep your teeth healthier.

Brush Your Teeth with Soft Bristles

When you need to buy new toothbrushes, it's easy to pick up whatever is on the store rack and use that. In fact, you might think that it's better to get a brush with hard bristles, thinking that will do a great job at scrubbing and get more gunky stuff off your teeth than the alternative.

However, hard bristles might feel painful on your gums. More importantly, people who don't use soft bristles and opt instead for medium or hard bristles can be at higher risk of damage to their teeth.

Incorporate the pointers here to consciously improve your brushing. Head to your local dentist's office like Sun City Dental and ask for more brushing suggestions that can keep your teeth in excellent shape.

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