How to brush your teeth properly
Twice a day, two minutes, soft brush, fluoride toothpaste. The difference is the angle and the pressure.
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Forty-five degrees at the gumline
Point the bristles up into the join between tooth and gum at roughly 45 degrees, not flat against the side. Plaque collects in that groove. If the tips are not in it, you are polishing the middle of the tooth.
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Small movements, not scrubbing
Short back and forth strokes or small circles, two teeth at a time. The long horizontal sawing stroke wears notches into the necks of teeth.
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Light pressure
The one people get most wrong. Enough to feel the bristles flex slightly, no more. If they splay flat, you are pushing too hard. Pressing harder removes gum, not plaque.
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Two minutes, timed
Nearly everyone who guesses comes in under a minute and is certain they did two. Use a timer until you are calibrated.
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The same order every time
Outsides of the uppers, insides, the same for the lowers, then the chewing surfaces. Pick a route and never vary it. Without one everyone skips behind the lower front teeth and the outer upper molars on their dominant side.
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The surfaces nobody reaches
Tip the brush vertically behind the front teeth, top and bottom, and reach around the back of the last molar. Then spit rather than rinse, so the fluoride stays put.
How to floss, including the step most people skip
Once a day, at whatever time you will genuinely do it. Night is the more useful slot, because saliva flow drops while you sleep.
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Use enough of it
About eighteen inches wound around the middle fingers, with an inch or two of working length between them. Move to a clean section as you go, because reusing one inch moves plaque around.
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Ease it through the contact
A gentle sawing motion to pass the tight point. Snapping it straight down cuts the gum, and tissue cut over and over is tissue that recedes.
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Make a C shape around the tooth
The step nearly everyone misses. Once the floss is through, curve it into a C against the side of one tooth and slide gently under the gum until you feel light resistance, then back up. Curve it the other way for the neighboring tooth.
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Every gap, including the last one
Including behind the back tooth on each side, top and bottom. Those surfaces have nothing next to them and get skipped almost universally.
Bleeding gums are a reason to keep going, not to stop
The most common reason people give up flossing is that it makes their gums bleed. The reasoning is backwards. Healthy tissue does not bleed when floss passes through it. Bleeding means inflammation, caused by the plaque you are removing.
Clean the area properly every day and bleeding from simple gingivitis usually settles within a week or two. If it still bleeds after two weeks, book an appointment, because that points to deposits below the gumline that floss cannot reach. See gum disease.
Tongue cleaning, children, and the rest of the routine
- Clean your tongue. The back of the tongue holds a large share of the bacteria in the mouth and is the usual source of persistent bad breath. A scraper or the brush, back to front.
- Children need supervision until about seven or eight. They do not have the dexterity to brush effectively however keen they are. Let them have a go, then go over it yourself. A pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste from age three, a smear before that, and teach them to spit rather than swallow.
- Start flossing a child as soon as two teeth touch. Once in contact, a brush cannot get between them.
- The night clean is the one that counts. Saliva flow drops during sleep, so anything left at bedtime sits there for hours.
- Night guards and retainers get cleaned too. Rinse and brush them, and bring them to your checkup.
Brushing and flossing questions
How long should I brush for?
Two minutes, twice a day, roughly thirty seconds per quadrant. Most people who do not time it come in well under that.
Should I floss before or after brushing?
Before. Clearing the spaces first lets the fluoride reach them. Either order beats not doing it, so if the habit only sticks one way, keep the habit.
Floss keeps shredding between two of my teeth. Why?
If it catches or tears in the same spot every time, something is there: a rough filling margin, a chip, or decay at the contact. Point it out at your next visit rather than blaming technique.
My gums have receded. Should I brush more gently?
Yes, and look at the brush too. Recession usually comes from hard brushing with a stiff brush, periodontal disease, or both, and exposed root is softer than enamel. Soft bristles, light pressure.
I am doing all of this and my gums still bleed. What now?
Come in and let us measure it. When two weeks of correct daily cleaning does not settle things, there is usually calculus below the gumline holding the inflammation open, and that has to be removed instrumentally. Request an appointment or call (559) 683-4694.