How to brush your teeth correctly – Cancun Cosmetic Dentistry
While we can all agree that brushing your teeth is a basic hygiene habit, that doesn’t mean there aren’t people who have been brushing their teeth in the wrong way for most of their lives. Brushing is the first line of defense against many of the problems we have, but we can assume we have been doing it correctly all this time. We strongly suggest you to read this helpful information to confirm if your technique is flawless or perhaps you need to make a couple of improvements on your dental cleaning routine.
To start with we must remind you that you should brush your teeth at least two times a day (after breakfast and before going to sleep), but ideally it should be once after every main meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Brushing more than this daily can actually cause adverse effects for your teeth and gums. The constant rubbing and scrubbing can damage your gums and provoke them to recede, exposing the roots of the teeth. The roots of the teeth have no extra protection against acids like the top of the teeth so they have propensity for cavities . Your toothbrush should have soft or medium bristles, avoiding hard ones that can hurt you.
It is recommended to brush for at least 2 minutes, making sure to get every side of every tooth. There are many people that only brush the front of their teeth, but this it not enough! You need to make sure to clean the inner/back side too.
Start from the back teeth first, doing small circles on the sides to remove plaque build up. The toothbrush should be on a slightly angled position (45°). Avoid doing strong back and forth motions on the side of the teeth because this can cut the gums! Instead use the back and forth motions when cleaning the top of the molars and pre-molars. You should keep doing small circles as you move to your front teeth. As we mentioned above, the whole process should take you about 2 minutes.
It is highly recommended to use floss at least once a day, just BEFORE brushing after dinner. This will help dislodge and expose any food particles still trapped so the toothbrush can get rid of them easily. Finally, make sure to brush your tongue too!
If you come for an appointment to our dental clinic in Cancun, you can ask the dentist any other additional questions about the proper way to clean dentures, dental implants and other dental prosthetics. Even if we brush everyday, we must get a dental cleaning once a year to get rid of plaque on hard to reach places…. which make your vacation in Cancun the perfect opportunity to pay us a visit!
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