Dental Hygiene

most cavities in periodontal disease begin between the teeth while brushing is important the bristles of your brush simply don't reach between the teeth to keep your gums and teeth healthy you must remove the plaque between your teeth at least once a day that's why we recommend dental floss wind 18 in of floss around the middle fingers of each hand leaving about 5 in between your hands pinch the floss between your thumbs and index fingers and leave about 1 in in between to work with gently guide the floss down between the teeth using a side to side motion if your teeth are too tight to floss or if it catches or tears let us know about it these are problems that need to be fixed pull the floss tightly in a c shape around the side of the tooth and slide it under the gum line clean the surface of the tooth by using an up and down motion not side to side until the surface is clean when all the plaque has been removed you'll hear the floss start to squeak then pull the floss around the next tooth and repeat the process wind the floss to a fresh section and gradually work your way around your mouth cleaning both sides of every tooth if your gums are infected they'll bleed when you floss and that's to be expected if you are just beginning to floss after a a week or so of regular flossing the bleeding should go away now you know why brushing your teeth is only half the battle most cavities and periodontal disease start between the teeth where your toothbrush simply doesn't reach

hi I'm Katrina zish for Howdini today we're going to talk about how to brush your teeth joining me to do that is cosmetic dentist Dr Brian caner nice to see you Doctor nice to see you so I think some people might think okay brushing my teeth this is very Elementary but other people might think there are so many new technologies is there something new to learn no there's nothing new to learn it's very basic it's the most important way to keep your hygiene brushing your teeth twice a day in the correct way 2 minutes twice a day okay now do you brush differently with a manual brush versus a power brush yes a manual brush you actually have to do all the work whereas a power brush does a lot of the work for you all you have to do is guide the toothbrush in the right area as the power brush actually will oscillate and get to all the hard to reach places you just have to guide the toothbrush you don't want to put too much pressure because the toothbrush is doing work for you now what's the right way to use a power toothbrush well a power brush you have to read the instructions on the power brush you use because everyone is different they all have bells and whistles on it what you're supposed to do is each quadrant should be brushed for 30 seconds so some of them have a timer for 30 seconds for each quadrant a total of 2 minutes some just have a timer for 2 minutes if you're putting too much pressure on the teeth there can be an alarm that goes off so you have to really read the instructions on on your powered toothbrush so the most important thing is you want to actually have a 45 degree angle from the toothbrush to the gums so at a 45° to the gums and you're just going to hold it in place whereas the power brush is going to do all the work for you so you're going to guide it tooth by tooth and you want to make sure you spend 30 seconds per quadrant and after you do the outsides of the teeth you're then going to go to the insides at a 45 with the gum and also the biting surfaces so there's three surfaces that you have to get after you did all four quadrants you then also want to have brush your tongue by brushing the tongue it also gets away some food particles and some bacteria that can cause bad breath okay now what if I'm using a manual toothbrush a manual toothbrush requires a little more energy uhoh and there's no timer on here so it takes a little a little responsibility make sure you're going to do it for 2 minutes same thing 45° angle no pressure into the gums you're going to put the toothbrush on the teeth at a 45 degree angle to the gum you're going to go back and forth slightly and away from the gums back and forth slightly away from the gums three teeth at a time not putting too much pressure on the gums but having the bristles go into the sulcus just to get some uh underneath the gums same thing on the inside away from the gums you want to go from the gums away from the gums after have to do the outside the inside you want to do the the clusel surface or the biting surface getting all the food particles out and after you do the quadrant go to the anterior teeth and you're going to turn the brush upside down and go from the gums up light short strokes and up same thing all all four quadrant after you do all four quadrants you want to brush your tongue for a fresh minty taste fantastic now how often should we be brushing our teeth minimum of twice a day ideally after every meal because the food particles that remain in your teeth can accumulate bacteria that bacteria can cause bad breath can cause gingivitis so you want to keep your te your teeth as healthy and clean as possible so ideally after every meal but realistically twice a day okay and let's talk about toothbrushes how long should my toothbrush last the most important thing about toothbrushes make sure you use a soft toothbrush if I didn't reate that but toothbrushes when they start fraying it's time for a new toothbrush usually they last anywhere from 2 to 3 months but that really depends on you so when it starts fraying it's time to get a new toothbrush some of these toothbrushes actually are colorcoded and when the color starts going away it tells you it's time for a new brush okay well thanks so much for making us smile better and teaching us how to brush our teeth even though all of us should already know that but it's definitely good to brush up on your Technique okay let's recap brush for 2 minutes that's 30 seconds for each of the four sections of your mouth don't forget your tongue follow the recommendations from your dentist for the correct brushing technique for you on behalf of Crest Pro Health and Oral B I'm Katrina zish for Howdini for more information check out the website