5 Mistakes you can’t help doing when you brush your teeth
Proper brushing technique may seem intuitive and rather done mechanically after years and years of daily practice.
But just because you’ve been performing this activity forever, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re doing it correctly.
As a matter of fact, chances are you’re doing it wrong. or partially wrong.
Here’s how you may be doing it wrong:
- Using the wrong style of brush.
Browse the toothbrush shelf on the supermarket aisle, and your eye will fall on the hardest spectrum of the bristle. The harder the better you’re thinking. Besides, you want to be hard on these nasty food stains and leftovers.
However, none of us would really want to be anything other than gentle on that precious thing called “the tooth enamel”. You are not supposed to scrub your teeth the same way you’re cleaning your toilet.
This is the main reason why a softer bristle is preferred. You also need them to be soft and bendy enough to embrace the gums.
What you should also bear in mind, is check how flexible the toothbrush is, as the more flexible it is, the easier to navigate around your mouth and cleanse more efficiently.
- Not replacing an old brush.
We are all hard to let go of certain things, especially if they’re bound to our everyday life. Or perhaps, life’s too busy to notice how quickly passed these 3 months, when you’re supposed to replace your toothbrush.
If the bristles start to fade away, or they appear frayed, it’s time to replace it.
It goes without saying, that you need to let your toothbrush breathe, as long as you have it, so no mold will grow.
- Brushing back and forth.
Our teeth aren’t a straight line, where a back and forth movement would be a good way to cleanse them.
A good brushing would also entail nice circular movements on the outer and inner sides of our teeth, whilst not forgetting the inner side of our front upper teeth.
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Not brushing long enough.
Brushing under 2 minutes won’t cut it. It just takes about a 60 second- activity to do some decent cleansing, twice a day.
Add a good mouthwash and some flossing twice a week you’ve got yourself a good oral routine.
- Ignoring the gums
Even the article is about “brushing teeth” but it really is an abbreviation for teeth, gums and tongue.
Yes, our gums need some special loving from our toothbrush, as well as our tongue for a fresher breath.
Ignoring the gums, may lead to a serious-ish oral disease called “the gum disease” or gingivitis. If the latter is left untreated, then it can accelerate to a serious one, called periodontitis.
- You brush to soon
Sometimes it’s so tempting to rush into the bathroom for a quick brush, especially after eating your favourite chocolate pound cake or after having just devoured a good burger.
We all want to get rid of the food remnants that are trapped among our teeth.
But the thing is… we need to wait; at least 15-20 minutes. This is how much it takes for the saliva to wash away the acid.
The thing is, once you’ve eaten, there’s acid inside your mouth. By adding abrasives (the toothpaste), you’re helping the acid erode your teeth. A little patience for the sake of your teeth is worth it, isn’t it?
