Brushing your teeth is an essential, regular part of maintaining your oral hygiene. But did you know there are healthy and unhealthy ways to brush your teeth? Fortunately, we have five helpful tips for healthy brushing so you can have a clean, radiant smile.
Cleaning plaque from your teeth is not like scrubbing dirt off your floor at home. It’s more important to gently move your toothbrush’s bristles through your teeth so that you can reach all of the plaque in hard-to-reach areas. Brushing too hard is bad for your gums and can cause them to bleed.
The optimal angle for brushing your teeth is holding the toothbrush at 45 degrees. Brushing your teeth this way ensures that you clean the sulcus or gum line, where the plaque is often trapped between your gums and your teeth. Many people miss the plaque in their gum line because they hold the toothbrush parallel to their teeth.
Many people may neglect to clean the inside surfaces of their teeth because they believe only the outside surfaces matter. When you eat, particles of food have a tendency to go everywhere. If you don’t clean the inside surfaces of your teeth, you could be vulnerable to problems such as inflammation.
Many people wonder why they have bad breath when they neglect cleaning their tongue. When consuming food and beverages, bacteria also gather on your tongue. Gargling and rinsing are not enough to clean all of the bacteria stuck on your tongue’s bumpy surface. You’ll need to gently brush your tongue with your toothbrush for the best results.
Like any other tool worn down from frequent use, toothbrushes will lose their shape and their bristles’ strength as time goes on. After a few months, you should change your toothbrush or your brush head if you use an electric toothbrush. Using the same brush head for too long will decrease the effectiveness of your brushing sessions.
