How To Brush Your Teeth

By Philip Yiga | June 1, 2015

Brushing teeth is healthy process that has been practiced for centuries up to date. Brushing teeth is not just for whitening the teeth or offering you a fresher breath but it’s actually important for your overall health. This is mainly because as you brush teeth, plaque will be removed “which is a thin-film of bacteria that sticks onto the teeth” and in fact this is major cause of cavities and gum disease in case you take long without brushing. In fact, plaque will cause teeth to fall-out and even leads to bad-breath due to a smelly mouth which is quite embarrassing especially when in the public. Now you all know why you need to brush teeth, but in case you wish to learn how to brush teeth effectively, try to follow the steps and tips provided below:

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STEP-1: USING THE RIGHT BRUSHING TOOLS:

• Choose a good brush: when buying a tooth-brush, select one with soft nylon-bristles because such a tooth-brush will help to effectively remove any plaque and debris from the teeth without irritating your gums or eroding the tooth enamel like tooth-brushes with hard bristles can do when used in a sideways action. Additionally, make sure the tooth-brush fits perfectly and comfortably into your hand and should also have a small-enough head that can easily access all the teeth while brushing. In case you find it difficult to fit a toothbrush into your mouth, then it’s probably wide and you will need to acquire a smaller one. Likewise, electric tooth-brushes are good choice for lazy brushers and it’s good to use a manual tooth-brush because it’s quick and lets you do all the brushing techniques.

• Try to replace the tooth-brush regularly: your tooth-brush bristles will actually wear-out over time by losing their flexibility and effectiveness. So it’s recommended to buy a new tooth-brush every 3-4 months or as soon as the bristles begin to splay-out or lose shape.

• Buy a fluoride tooth-paste: it’s recommended to use fluoride toothpaste because it helps to remove plaque and to strengthen the tooth enamel. However, make sure that you don’t swallow fluoride toothpaste because it can lead to serious health consequences if ingested in large quantities. In fact, fluoride toothpaste should never be used by children under the age of 3 in order to avoid getting any problems.

• Make use of a dental floss: flossing the teeth is very important just like brushing teeth. This is because flossing teeth helps to remove built-up plaque, bacteria and food particles which get trapped in-between your teeth and your soft bristled toothbrush can’t reach them. But it’s always best to floss before brushing teeth so that any bacteria and food comes out and does not remain in the mouth as you brush.

 

STEP-2: HOW TO MASTER THE BRUSHING TECHNIQUE:

• Use a smaller amount of tooth-paste: it’s recommended to squeeze only a pea-sized amount of tooth-paste onto the toothbrush before brushing. This is mainly because applying too much tooth-paste lead to over-sudsing thus tempting you to spit and finish brushing too early. Using too mush tooth-paste can even increase on the risk of ingesting fluoride tooth-paste which is unhealthy.

• Set the toothbrush bristles at a 45-degree angle at your gum-line: use a 45-degree angle as you approach the gum-line and gently brush in a short, vertical or circular motion. But try not to brush across your teeth because this will leave some plaque, bacteria or food on your teeth and gum.

• Take at least 3-minutes of brushing teeth: its good practice to spend at least 3-minutes brushing your teeth and try to brush a few teeth at a time and then work your way around the mouth in a cycle. In fact, try to spend about 12 to 15 seconds in every spot and you can also decide to divide your mouth into 4-quadrants because you spend about 30-seconds on each quadrant, you will achieve 2-minutes of full brushing.

• Brush the molar teeth: position your toothbrush in way that it’s perpendicular to the lips or in angle whereby the bristles are resting on top of the bottom molar teeth. Start brushing in an in-and-out motion while moving the toothbrush from the back to the front of your mouth. Repeat the same process on the other side of your mouth and after finishing cleaning the bottom molar teeth, start working on the upper molar-teeth.

• Start brushing the inner-surfaces of your teeth: position your toothbrush in such a way that the head points towards the gum-line and then begin brushing each tooth. Make sure your mouth is opened wide enough by simply holding he teeth apart using 2 or 3 fingers of the other hand that is not used to brush. This will actually allow for a correct vertical angle in order to reach the gum perfectly.

• Carefully brush the tongue: after cleaning the teeth, turn the toothbrush bristles onto your tongue and begin to gently brush or clean it. While brushing your tongue, don’t press too hard because you may end-up damaging its tissue. In fact, cleaning the tongue helps to eliminate bad-breath and even helps to remove any bacteria stuck onto your tongue.

 

STEP-3: COMPLETING THE BRUSHING PROCESS:

• Rinse-out the mouth: in case you decide to rinse your mouth after brushing, then take a sip of water from your faucet-cup. Swish this water around your mouth and later spit it out. However, in case you are at a risk of getting cavities, then it’s recommended not to rinse your mouth after brushing or you may use a small amount of water to rinse the mouth. In fact it’s best to use a fluoride mouthwash instead of plain water to rinse your mouth.

• Rinse the toothbrush: after brushing, hold the toothbrush under clean, running-water for a few seconds and thoroughly clean it in order to get rid of any bacteria on the brush bristles. Additionally, rinsing your toothbrush also helps to remove any tooth-paste left on the toothbrush after brushing. However, if you don’t clean your toothbrush properly, it will actually introduce old-bacteria into the mouth the next time you use it for brushing. On the other hand, try to place your toothbrush in a place where it can easily dry-up in order to prevent any bacteria growth.

• Try to finish with a fluoride-based mouthwash: this involves taking a small sip of mouthwash and after swish it gently in the mouth for at least 30-seconds, then spit it out but be very careful not to swallow any mouthwash because it may lead to serious ingestion problems. However, using a mouthwash is optional and if you don’t have it, then you can use water for rinsing your mouth after brushing.

• Rinse the mouth with salt-water: this is also an optional method of rinsing your mouth after brushing. In fact, salt-water can help to kill any bad bacteria on the teeth and within your mouth. However, salt-water is acidic and this implies that it may erode your teeth used too often hence you should only use salt-water to clean your mouth for once in a while for best results.

• Try to brush your teeth for at least twice a day: dentists recommend everyone to brush for at least twice a day. This involves brushing in the morning and at night before going to bed. However, in case you can fix a third time in the middle or within your brushing routine, then this can provide better results. Additionally, try to avoid taking snacks between meals as much as you can because this leads to increased food debris which is the major cause of bacteria build-up with the mouth.