Teeth brushing, we’ve spent everyday of our lives doing it (we hope!). On the Whitehorse Dental blog, we have 5 quick tips for you to maximise the effectiveness of your daily brushing routine.
Stop brushing too hard or too frequently
Your teeth have a protective hard outside layer on it called enamel. This layer does a really good job of protecting your teeth against tooth decay, preventing tooth sensitivity and making your teeth look shiny and white.
Try not to brush directly after meals
Sounds counterintuitive, but it is better to leave a break of about 30 minutes after a meal before brushing your teeth.
The reason for it is whenever we eat or drink – the environment in our mouth increases in acidity level. Many of the foods we eat are acidic in pH (eg. wine, fruit, juice, lemons) and the saliva also becomes more acidic to start off the digestive process.
Because of this acid environment created, our tooth enamel is weakened after we eat.
Toothpaste does not neutralise the pH in our mouths, so brushing directly after eating will begin to brush away the softened enamel.
Leaving time after a meal will return the environment of our mouths back to neutral pH and therefore you are less likely to cause damage to weakened tooth enamel.
If eating fruit for breakfast, brush before eating!
If your breakfast consists of fruit, citrus or juice, it’s actually better to brush before breakfast. The acidity of these foods can leave the enamel in a softened state and brushing straight away afterwards can result in damage to the tooth enamel.
After eating, a good way to help the mouth return to neutral pH is simply by drinking water.
If you feel there is food caught between your teeth, use a cleaning aid for in between the teeth. This can mean flossing, or if you hate flossing – use an interdental brush such as a Pikster or TePe! They’re like tiny brushes that brush between those tiny gaps in your teeth.
Cleaning between your teeth will get those annoying bits of food out without damage to the enamel.
Brush between your teeth
No amount of brushing can get into those pesky gaps, so there’s no alternative but to floss or use Piksters between your teeth.
These are minor adjustments to your teeth brushing routine, but we believe that it will be a huge benefit to your dental health if you incorporate these habits daily.
Need any more advice on brushing your teeth like a pro? Give our friendly dentists a call at Whitehorse Dental in Blackburn.