How, When, How Much And Why Should You Brush Your Teeth?

2024 Author: Josephine Shorter | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 17:49

How, when, how much and why should you brush your teeth?

The oral cavity is one of the most polluted cavities in the human body. Therefore, the question of how to properly brush your teeth is very relevant for maintaining their health.

The process of brushing your teeth is a hygienic procedure aimed at removing food debris and soft dental plaque from the surface of your teeth, which forms during the day. Oral hygiene is performed using a toothbrush and other devices, such as dental floss.

If you ignore the need to brush your teeth or perform this procedure poorly, then this can provoke the development of caries and other inflammatory processes in the oral cavity.

Content:

• Why brush your teeth?
• When should you brush your teeth?
• How many times should I brush my teeth?
• How to brush your teeth properly?
• Removing bad breath
• Acidic foods soften enamel

Why brush your teeth?

Reason 1: chopping food. Healthy teeth and their correct placement adorn a person's appearance, but the advantages of teeth do not end there. Our mouth is the first mechanism in the digestive tract. Food in the mouth is not only chewed by the teeth, but also soaked in saliva, which facilitates its further digestion in the stomach and intestines. Food that is not saturated with saliva is poorly absorbed by the body. As you can imagine, only people with healthy teeth can handle the food they eat well.

Reason 2: clarity of speech. The teeth are involved in sound production. Without them, we will not be able to speak clearly. The loss of several teeth or their improper development can negatively affect the clarity of speech. Even with the loss of one front tooth, the child's speech will become lisp. Children with such a defect in teeth may stop communicating and become boring for their peers. As a result, such a child can become withdrawn, move away from society, and his character can change.

Reason 3: dental health. Diseases such as tooth decay and its complications can be easily prevented. You can also prevent improper tooth growth in childhood. For this, preventive and hygienic measures should be taken. If you ignore them, then complications arise, and the treatment will be longer and more expensive.

Note that the presence of diseased teeth is unacceptable, since bacteria from a diseased tooth can easily pass into other organs of the body, which will lead to a disease of the whole organism as a whole.

Read more: Caries - Causes and Symptoms of Caries

When should you brush your teeth?

The teeth are brushed in the morning - after breakfast, and in the evening - before bedtime. By brushing your teeth after eating, you will protect yourself from tooth decay and plaque, as there will be no food particles left in your mouth. Therefore, never brush your teeth before eating!

There is another reason: if you brush your teeth before meals, and after drinking, for example, coffee, then your teeth will change color, since after brushing the enamel of your teeth is more susceptible to the effects of coloring pigments.

Another very important note! Do not brush your teeth immediately after eating if you have eaten any acidic foods or even drank a glass of orange juice. You need to wait about 30-40 minutes. The fact is that after taking acid, our enamel becomes softer, and if you immediately start brushing your teeth, it will be damaged to a much greater extent. In addition, cracks will begin to form over time, and as a result, the teeth can be completely destroyed.

How many minutes do you need to brush your teeth? There is no exact answer to this question. However, they need to be cleaned for about 2-3 minutes. Desirable - at least two minutes. But you don't need to brush your teeth for too long, so as not to damage the enamel.

How many times a day should you brush your teeth?

Brushing your teeth is best done twice a day, morning and evening. More frequent cleaning will gradually wear away the enamel. Naturally, you should brush your teeth after eating, not before! But at the same time, since we eat more often than twice a day, after eating during the day, we should rinse our mouth with a special mouthwash or saline solution. Remember one golden rule: after eating any food, you must always brush your teeth or at least rinse your mouth! Then you are unlikely to go to the dentist.

How to brush your teeth properly?

General rules for brushing your teeth

Modern dentists have developed the following guidelines for brushing your teeth:

• Before starting cleaning, the toothbrush must be thoroughly rinsed;
• Do not use too much toothpaste. For an adult, the strip should not be longer than 10 mm;
• A hygienic procedure cannot take less than 2 minutes, but should not last more than 5 minutes;
• The brush should be held correctly in relation to the teeth. The angle of inclination must be 45 ° C;
• It is necessary to start the cleaning procedure from the lower dentition, and then proceed to cleaning the upper teeth;
• The front teeth are cleaned first, then you need to clean those teeth that are located in the depths of the oral cavity;
• The direction of movement when cleaning the lower teeth is from bottom to top, and when cleaning the upper teeth - from top to bottom;
• The chewing surface of the teeth is cleaned using circular motions;
• Finish cleaning with gum massage. To do this, using a brush, you need to make kneading and stroking movements;
• After the procedure, the mouth must be rinsed thoroughly;
• After the teeth are cleaned, it is necessary to process the surface of the tongue. A large number of bacteria accumulate on it, which must be removed. For this purpose, all modern toothbrushes are equipped with a special ribbed surface located on the back of the bristle;
• If possible, after brushing your teeth, you should rinse your mouth with a special rinse;
• The brush should be thoroughly washed after the procedure. It must be stored in a glass, turning the cleaning surface up.

If you brush your teeth incorrectly, move the brush across your teeth from left to right, then this will injure the gums. In addition, due to such an incorrect technique, plaque is brought into the interdental spaces, and it will be rather problematic to remove it from there. Another danger of improper brushing is teeth grinding in the area of their neck.

All experts unanimously recommend brushing your teeth at least twice a day. This procedure should also not be performed more often, as this will lead to thinning of the enamel. If a product with acid was consumed, then the teeth just need to be rinsed with water. It is not recommended to clean them, as this can lead to the destruction of enamel, increased sensitivity of teeth and the development of caries.

The most important procedure is brushing your teeth before resting at night. The fact is that plaque and food debris accumulated during the day will contribute to the fact that pathogenic bacteria begin to actively multiply. As a result, this will lead to the development of tooth decay and gum disease.

The most problematic areas for cleaning are the inner surface of the incisors, the lingual surface of the lower chewing teeth, and the buccal surface of the upper chewing teeth.

If you already have gum disease, experts recommend using a special brush to clean your teeth.

Additional tips for cleaning your teeth

In addition to the basic rules, there are additional recommendations regarding this procedure:

• The pressure on the brush should not be excessive;
• The oral cavity must be thoroughly rinsed out, otherwise the procedure will be ineffective;
• The paste should not be swallowed, as an excess of fluoride in the body will lead to the destruction of tooth enamel;
• If a person notices that even after thorough brushing, particles of food and plaque remain between the teeth, then you should use dental floss.

To assess the quality of the cleaning performed at home, you should run your tongue over the surface of the teeth. If a smooth surface is felt, this is a criterion for a correct procedure.

Means for cleaning teeth

Good oral hygiene is impossible without dental cleaners.

Among the modern devices for the implementation of this procedure are:

• Pastes and gels;
• Toothbrushes, which can be mechanical or electric;
• Floss or dental floss
• Brushes;
• Irrigators;
• Chewing gums and candies for deodorizing the mouth;
• Dental elixirs and rinses;
• Dentifrice;
• Dental wipes.

In addition to products for home use, there are various methods of professional teeth cleaning. The procedure is performed in the dentist's office. Doctors recommend professional cleaning 2 times a year, during each routine examination of the oral cavity.

Read more: How to whiten teeth enamel at home?

Removing bad breath

An explanation for bad breath may be the accumulation of bacteria at the root of the tongue. Although the reasons may be different, most often this is the problem. Therefore, so that an unpleasant odor never emanates from your mouth, always brush your tongue while brushing your teeth. However, regular chewing gum will help to eliminate the same smell by increasing salivation. Pay special attention to your tongue after eating dairy products, meat, or fish.

Acidic foods soften enamel

After conducting a study at one of the German institutes, it was found that brushing your teeth immediately after you drink or eat something sour is impossible, as acidic foods temporarily soften the enamel. Although this effect lasts only 20-30 minutes, then the enamel hardens again.

If you think that the main enemy of enamel is sugar, then you are right. However, in addition to sugar, the acid contained in acidic foods and juices also has a destructive effect. For example, if you drink a glass of orange juice after a meal, then after that it is better not to brush your teeth for about half an hour.

The fact is that when acidic foods are consumed, the acidity in the mouth becomes higher than normal, which results in a softening of the enamel. To neutralize this process, you can eat foods containing a large amount of protein - for example, peanuts, cheese, eggs. But they should be eaten 15–20 minutes after eating food with a high acid content.

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The author of the article: Muravitsky Boris Viktorovich, dentist, especially for the website ayzdorov.ru