How to brush your teeth properly
Brush twice a day for two minutes with a soft brush and a fluoride toothpaste. The angle and the pressure are where technique matters most.
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Forty-five degrees at the gumline
Point the bristles into the junction between tooth and gum at roughly 45 degrees, rather than flat against the side of the tooth. Plaque collects in that groove, and the tips of the bristles need to reach it to remove it.
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Small movements rather than scrubbing
Use short back and forth strokes or small circles, two teeth at a time. A long horizontal sawing stroke can wear notches into the necks of the teeth over the years.
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Light pressure
Pressure is easy to overdo. Use enough that the bristles flex slightly, and no more. If they splay flat, ease off. Extra force wears the gum and the tooth surface without cleaning any better.
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Two minutes, timed
Two minutes is longer than it feels. A timer, a song, or a brush with a built-in timer all work. Checking yourself against a clock now and then helps.
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The same order every time
Outsides of the upper teeth, then the insides, then the same for the lower teeth, then the chewing surfaces. Choose a route and keep to it. A set route makes it much less likely that the inside of the lower front teeth or the outer upper molars get skipped.
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The surfaces that get missed
Tip the brush vertically behind the front teeth, top and bottom, and reach around the back of the last molar on each side. Then spit rather than rinse, so the fluoride stays where it's useful.
How to floss, step by step
Floss once a day, at whatever time of day you'll do it consistently. Night is the more useful time, because saliva flow drops while you sleep.
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Use enough floss
About eighteen inches wound around the middle fingers, with an inch or two of working length between them. Move to a clean section as you go, because reusing the same section moves plaque from one place to another.
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Ease it through the contact
Use a gentle sawing motion to pass the tight point. Snapping the floss straight down can cut the gum, and tissue that keeps getting cut can recede.
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Make a C shape around the tooth
This step is the easiest to skip. Once the floss is through, curve it into a C against the side of one tooth and slide it gently under the gum until you feel light resistance, then bring it back up. Then curve it the other way for the neighboring tooth.
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Every gap, including the last one
That includes the area behind the back tooth on each side, top and bottom. Those surfaces have no neighboring tooth, so they're easy to miss, and they collect plaque like any other surface.
What bleeding gums usually mean
Gums often bleed when someone gets back to flossing after a break, and the bleeding discourages many people from continuing. Bleeding is usually a sign that the tissue is inflamed, and the inflammation is usually caused by the plaque being removed. Some medications, pregnancy and certain medical conditions can also cause bleeding, so please have it checked.
Clean the area thoroughly every day and bleeding from simple gingivitis often settles within a week or two. If it continues beyond that, give us a call, because it can mean there are deposits below the gumline that floss can't reach. See gum disease.
Tongue cleaning, children, and the rest of the routine
- Clean your tongue. The back of the tongue holds a large share of the bacteria in the mouth and is a common source of persistent bad breath. Use a scraper or the brush itself, working from back to front.
- Children need supervision until about seven or eight. The dexterity to brush effectively takes years to develop, however motivated the child. Let your child brush first, then repeat the brushing yourself. Use a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste from age three, a smear before that, and teach the child to spit rather than swallow.
- Start flossing a child's teeth as soon as two teeth touch. Once teeth are in contact, a brush can't reach between them.
- The night cleaning matters most. Saliva flow drops during sleep, so anything left behind at bedtime stays there for hours.
- Night guards and retainers need cleaning too. Rinse and brush them, and bring them along to your checkup.
Brushing and flossing questions
How long should I brush for?
Two minutes, twice a day, roughly thirty seconds per quadrant. Two minutes is longer than it feels, so timing yourself now and then helps keep the estimate accurate.
Should I floss before or after brushing?
Before, ideally. Clearing the spaces first lets the fluoride from your toothpaste reach them. Either order is better than not flossing at all, so if the habit is only consistent one way around, keep the habit.
Floss keeps shredding between two of my teeth. Why?
If floss catches or tears in the same place every time, there's usually a cause: a rough filling margin, a chip, or decay at the contact point. Mention it at your next visit and we'll take a close look at the area.
My gums have receded. Should I brush more gently?
Yes, and take a look at the brush as well. Recession can come from hard brushing with a stiff brush, from periodontal disease, or from both together, and exposed root surface is softer than enamel. Use soft bristles and light pressure.
I am doing all of this and my gums still bleed. What now?
Come see us and let us measure it. When two weeks of careful daily cleaning doesn't settle the bleeding, there's often calculus below the gumline keeping the inflammation going, and calculus has to be removed with instruments. Request an appointment or call (559) 683-4694.