What’s the best way to clean teeth?

We are often asked what is the best way to keep your teeth clean and guard against cavities and gum disease. There are some very basic steps you can take. Here are our tips for keeping your teeth sparkly clean (not to mention improving your breath too!)…

Brushing Teeth

Everyone should brush their teeth twice a day. If you are not into the habit of brushing your teeth twice a day yet, brushing before you go to bed is far more important than brushing right after you wake up. When we sleep, our saliva gets more stagnant and this is usually the time bacteria takes advantage to form acid which causes cavities.

Should you use an electric toothbrush? As dentists, we certainly recommend the use of electric toothbrushes. These brushes have a smaller head that allows you to reach difficult areas to clean. The fact that electric toothbrushes rotate or oscillate also means you are naturally being more thorough. Remember that you don’t need to spend too much on an electric toothbrush. You can buy a basic and effective model for less than $40.

The Importance of Flossing

As repetitive or boring as this may sound to many of you (or despite what you may have heard on social media click bait!), flossing really does work in keeping our teeth and gums clean. Take this very simple scenario as an example; you have a piece of meat stuck in between your teeth. The mere fact that the dental floss helps you get rid of this piece of meat means there is now no source of food for the bacteria. This means you reduce the chance of cavities forming. In fact, if you have dental floss nearby now, just try flossing some of your back teeth right now even if they feel clean. Now smell the floss. Seriously. Give it a try! We are quite certain that the floss will have a pungent/rotting smell if you do not floss regularly. These smells are caused by small particles of food debris which are still lodged in your mouth. If this little experience doesn’t convince you – I’m not sure what will!

Picking up the habit of flossing is not easy. It can be as difficult as constantly committing to going to the gym. However, it’s worth it for your overall mouth health.

Mouthwash Is Really Just Breath Freshener

Unfortunately, most mouthwashes do not help your dental health. Most just improve your breath. It is better to focus on brushing and flossing. Mouthwash can just be a novelty or icing on the cake when it comes to fresher smelling breath.

Brushing Tongue – It’s A Thing

This last tip is important and many people are unaware of the benefits. A good, healthy and clean tongue should be pink in colour. If your tongue is white or creamy yellow or brownish, this usually means there is a thick layer of dirt on it. This dirty layer can feed the bacteria that cause problems. This also causes bad breath and a bad aftertaste in your mouth. Just like flossing, brushing your tongue is also not an easy habit to pick up. But, you can easily add it to your normal brushing routine. And remember, your normal toothbrush is sufficient to clean your tongue.

When you first start cleaning your tongue, you might gag or choke initially. Just be a little careful and, with time and practice, you will get used to it and should be able to clean your tongue easily.

We hope this helps and feel free to ask us any questions on our Facebook page if you need any further info.

That’s all for now. Cheers.