Hello everyone, in today's article I will be pointing out the 12 mistakes that you're are probably making when brushing your teeth.
Yes, I know many of you guys have been brushing your teeth for 30 years, 60 years, in some cases perhaps more, and you're saying,I've never had a cavity or I've been doing this for a long time, I don't think I'm making any mistakes.
I bet you there's not a single person reading this who has not made one of these 12 mistakes, and also you are consistently making many of these mistakes. So stick around, some of these you've grassed before, other ones are most likely the ones you've had no idea about. And you're going to find this pretty intriguing.
I went off, spoke to my dentist, did research, and I found some very interesting things. So bringing this in, let's dive right into what are the 12 mistakes that most people, the vast majority of the world are making when it comes to taking care of their teeth.
1. KEEPING YOUR TOOTHBRUSH FAR WAY TOO LONG
The life of a toothbrush, consistent use:3m twice a day, 7 days a week, 30 days, some 31days a month, is 3months. So after about 200 uses, you need to start looking for a new toothbrush. Why? the bristles.
So toothbrush theft had been used too much, you can kind of look at it – bristles are going to be all over the place. This affects other items we're going to get into. But it doesn't allow you to brush your teeth properly. So you need to look to get rid of this toothbrush every 3month. okay?
2. NOT BRUSHING FOR A LONG TIME
So recently we started using an electronic toothbrush –TAO clean Aura System Sonic toothbrush. The cool part about this is that it has a timer. And you know, I am not used to using the timer on my toothbrush, but I started using it for two minutes.
Now dealing with that was a lot longer than I expected. And what that implied to me is that I've consistently not been brushing my teeth long enough. 2minutes is what we're supposed to use. Why? It gives time for the fluoride to start to react to the teeth, as it circulates, and it is the recommended amount.
So, 2minutes, I think most of us are brushing our teeth in less than a minute. We just get into a routine, once we hit everything, we are done. 2minutes is what you need to shoot for, and that's one of the reasons I recommend some of these electronic toothbrushes, though there are other reasons, the timer in itself is worth it. But you don't have a timer, just simply use a stopwatch, use your phone, or something but brush your teeth for 2 minutes.
3. RINSING WITH WATER
Yes, after you brush that, even for 2 minutes and you spit it out there,
I know, most of the time we do this, and guess what, you're taking half of that fluoride right out of your mouth you're spitting out. But at the same time, it's uncomfortable and not advisable for your mouth not to be rinsed. That is where mouthwash comes to play.
Now around this, and still being able to rinse your mouth is the actual use of mouthwash that contains fluoride. And you can quickly rinse gargle, spit that out, and the fluoride, still going to stick to your teeth because it's concentrated. Unlike most, when you brush your teeth with water, spit it out and get used to that feeling –I know to most people it's been very hard so you could use a rinse.
4. STORING YOUR TOOTHBRUSH IN THE BATHROOM
This one I think, almost all of us are doing it, and we do it because of convenience.
The Problem
A study has been run, and they talk about more than half of the toothbrushes that they tested, had a bit of "feces" on them. Yes, guys!
There is crap on your toothbrush if you're fond of leaving your toothbrush in the bathroom. How it gets in there will be discussed later, but very essential is the safety of your health. So all you have to know is that this stuff is for real. It blew me away when I saw this too.
In addition, when you're storing it in the bathroom guess what? Since it is more humid and lighter for the air to carry in there, a higher percentage is going to be dropped and stored, as much as it could in the already wet toothbrush. Of course, the time to dry out, even if you put it in a cover will be a bit long.
Also, you know this one thing I like about recommended toothbrushes is that they have a cleaning system. So the best way to buy an electric toothbrush is that you can just simply take it, put it next to your nightstand, outside your bathroom.
5. NOT FLOSSING
Probably you've heard this before, or maybe not.
First, how do you start to floss? I know the hardest part is creating a habit to start flossing. The vest tip to apply is just to floss one tooth because when you begin with one tooth, you might just end up flossing the rest of your teeth. And that's the hard part, to begin with –the getting started, right?
Well, most people feel that you know, it gives you that good feeling,
I floss at the end of the day, I don't always do that but when I do it, I try to reward myself.
It's of course, good to do so, but when you do that, set up the system so that you could get those individual floss better for you than taking out some, and then wrapping it around the fingers. By having that individual floss system, it's going to be a little bit more expensive. However, having that small little floss picked all of a sudden, you can get the job done, and you've flossed your teeth already.
6. NOT CLEANING YOUR TONGUE
Invest in a tongue cleaner. You don't want to do that get a toothbrush. Then on the opposite side, it's got a little bit of a tongue scraper, not as good as you expected but it will get the job done.
Worst case, use your toothbrush and brush off the tongue after you've been brushing your teeth for 2 minutes as well. And it's important to do so every time you brush your teeth.
7. USING A HARD TOOTHBRUSH
You're using a "Chain-smoker toothbrush" as it's usually called in some part of the world.
Any Issue with that? Absolutely yes!
Let's not discuss the effect at the moment. But let me begin by saying that you don't even use the medium, go with soft or extra soft. It doesn't make a difference –you're not looking to get in there, and I mean, what most of us do is that we're just looking on the mirror to get rid of that meat or some of the other food that's gotten stuck in and around our teeth. So, you're not looking to do that; you're not going to shine those things up, that's not the aim of the toothbrush. And so, the problem is, lots of people are using medium or harder brushes. Of course, eventually, you're going to damage your gums, and that takes us to the next point.
8. NOT BRUSHING IN CIRCLES
Don't go back and forth while brushing. And that I imply, you should brush in circles. Though most people feel it's a waste of time doing this, the truth is your gums need to be taken care of because they are delicate parts. So much "back and forth" movement of the toothbrush plus friction on the surface could result in damage to the gums. You can brush without having a drop of blood from your mouth by brushing in circles.
Also, this will be much focused on every spot and doing it gently.
9. NOT USING A 45° ANGLE
You also want to go at a 45° angle and that's one of the reasons that you see a kit of brushes –they've got the bristles that go at an angle because most of us, we go straight on, and we go back and forth. So if you've got a toothbrush, this goes straight, you want to go at a 45°angle. Make sense?
10. USING THE SAME ROUTINE
Yes using the same routine, and that's men and women that do not change up their routine. They get used to going in the same order. The problem with that is, we get lazy, we get sloppy. You need to change up your routine and that's something you have to consciously think about. We don't like to engage "consciously".
Think about things, and that's the advantage of, you know, I like the electric toothbrush. You can just guide it, and it usually does a better job of actually reaching it, because it requires less effort. However, it can train you not to brush your teeth when you keep using the same routine, well if you're having to use a manual toothbrush.
11. BRUSHING MORE THAN TWICE A DAY
No need to brush your teeth more than two times a day. A lot of people out there are thinking,
OK, if I brush three times a day, four times a day, I'm OK.
Well, that's cool, but brushing more than two times a day can lead to damage, and that's not something that you want to do to your teeth.
12. BRUSHING TO SOON AFTER MEAL
Most people don't wait 30 minutes after they've eaten to brush their teeth. Why it's wrong is because the pH levels have dropped.
Your mouth is more acidic. When you have your meal, one of the enzymes, for instance, Amylase helps break down complex carbohydrates into sugar. They are found in your saliva, and they get mixed with your food. So, 30 minutes after having your meal, you need time to be able to get rid of the saliva that has a lot of acids secreted (aside from the aforementioned enzyme, for the first digestion to take place in your mouth).
And how do you do that?
You just have to wait for 30 minutes or more before having your teeth brushed.
Otherwise, you can damage the teeth a bit when you brush too soon after your meal.
Well, in most cases while trying to catch up with a meeting or a date, you could get an alternative by taking a mint gum, sweet, among others but after rinsing your mouth with just water.
