5 Things You May Do Wrong While Brushing Your Teeth

Brushing teeth is a daily ritual of any person who cares about the condition of their oral cavity.

However, this seemingly easy ritual has a lot of important details. Not all people brush their teeth properly, which can cause various problems and even diseases. 

Ideally, you should go through professional dental cleanings regularly, but proper hygiene at home is crucial for oral health. Here are five mistakes almost everyone makes when brushing their teeth.

1. Irregular hygiene

You need to brush your teeth regularly at home - in the morning and in the evening. If you do this at the beginning of the day after breakfast, then at least until lunch the oral cavity will be clean. If it is uncomfortable not to brush your teeth immediately after waking up, then care should be conducted after eating.

Teeth gain minerals from saliva: calcium, fluorine, and various trace elements. If there is a plaque on them, they will not be able to absorb useful substances. At lunch, it is not necessary to brush your teeth; it is enough to rinse your mouth thoroughly with water or an antiseptic after eating.

Do not forget that after the evening hygiene procedure, you should stop consuming food and any drinks other than water.

2. Incorrectly selected care products

The main tools for healthy teeth are a brush, mouthwash, and dental floss. You can clean your teeth both right and wrong both with a regular toothbrush and with the latest ultrasonic toothbrush.

A good tool for dental hygiene at home is an irrigator. This is an analogue of dental floss, a structure where water is poured, an antiseptic is added and applied to the interdental space. This is a more thorough cleaning for implants; under the pressure of water, everything is washed out from there. The irrigator also massages the gums well.

Don't forget to also use a mechanical tongue scraper - the goal is to reduce the concentration of bacteria in the mouth.

3. Incorrect brushing technique

The biggest mistake is the wrong movements and brushing technique. Children should be taught from an early age to brush their teeth correctly. The sooner a person learns how to properly brush their teeth, the sooner a habit will form that will remain for life.

In the same way, it happens vice versa: if you get used to doing it wrong, you will repeat it all the time. This inevitably causes problems later on.

The minimum danger is simply not cleaning your teeth and leaving plaque, the maximum is the erasure of sections of the teeth due to improper technique. Often there is more pressure on one side due to the fact that you use either your left or right hand. Accordingly, the opposite side of the oral cavity may not be completely cleaned.

You need to brush your teeth correctly in circular and sweeping movements, starting them from the gums, as if smoothing them to the teeth.

4. Not brushing the chewing teeth

When people brush their teeth, they pay a lot of attention to the front of the mouth - the smile zone. But each tooth should be given the same amount of attention. In this situation, the electric brush is a better option because it rotates on its own and cleans the teeth evenly.

5. Not enough time to brush your teeth

On average, brushing your teeth for at least 2 minutes is recommended. There are even special hourglasses for the bathroom. You can set a timer on your phone to check yourself since brushing for 30 seconds will not help your teeth.

You also need to use mouthwash for at least 40 seconds, ideally for a minute. If you do it for less time, its effectiveness decreases by 80%, as it does not have time to act. Rinsing enhances hygiene because brushing cleans only a third of the entire oral cavity and misses the palate, cheeks, and lips.

The bottom line

By following the simple rules of brushing your teeth, you can protect yourself from diseases and frequent visits to the dentist.

Don't forget to take care of your teeth regularly, get a professional cleaning once every six months ( if you have braces - once every 3 months), use your oral accessories correctly, and stay healthy.