How effective are you at brushing your teeth?¶

Does your hygienist tell you that you need to "brush and floss more" despite you already brushing twice daily? I imagine this must be discouraging, and I am here to help you learn to brush your teeth effectively.

One thing I do with all my patients is disclose their teeth prior to cleaning them. This process shows them where the plaque is hanging around and we discuss different methods they can use to remove the plaque. You can disclose your own teeth at home using a disclosing mouth rinse or disclosing tablets. These are the ones I recommend. Both work well, but the rinse is more convenient, and doesn't leave your tongue stained pink for hours. After you are able to see where you are leaving plaque behind after brushing you can train yourself to brush more effectively to remove all the plaque.

You can use either a manual toothbrush or an electric toothbrush. If using a manual toothbrush you want to make sure you always choose a soft bristled brush, anything harder can abrade your gums and cause recession. A wise teacher once told me the only thing you should use a hard toothbrush on is the grout in your bathroom! You also need to set a timer for 3 minutes with a manual toothbrush instead of two. Below I will link some demo videos on how to effectively brush.

My favorite electric toothbrushes are the Burst sonic toothbrush, and the Phillips ProtectiveClean by Sonicare. Burst came on the oral hygiene scene a few years ago with the consumer in mind. They are cost effective, have a sleek design with soft bristles and a timer so you can make sure you are brushing for the correct amount of time. Sonicare electric toothbrushes have been around for decades, you can't go wrong with them. They are, however, a little pricier than Burst.

My favorite manual toothbrush is either the NIMBUS or the Tepe Soft toothbrush. Both are good quality and soft bristles so they are gentle on the gums and have a good head shape to ensure you reach those far back molars. You can click the links above to purchase any of these products from my affiliate account if you like.