How does My Local Dentist in Winter Park Recommend I Brush My Teeth?
This may seem like a simple question, but too often, we did not receive sufficient instruction as children to develop good brushing habits. Of all the technology and products available, even your local dentist's services are less important than the routine habit of brushing and flossing your teeth properly.
How should I brush my teeth?
Using a clean, soft-bristled toothbrush, apply a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste. Position your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle at the base of your teeth, near the gumline. Although you are not targeting your gums, it does help to clean the gum line to prevent buildup in that area. You should focus on brushing in a circular motion and on all surfaces of your teeth. One tip is to split the brushing into each quadrant of the mouth (upper left, upper right, bottom left, bottom right) and mentally visualize each surface of your teeth (cheek-side, tongue-side, and top/bottom. It's important to brush all surfaces, especially in the back of the mouth – you can expect about 30 seconds of brushing per quadrant, which is a total of 2 minutes total brushing. You should brush twice a day. Knowing what type of toothbrush to use is also important.
What’s a good general care routine that my local dentist recommends?
In addition to brushing, flossing is imperative to prevent food buildup between your teeth. Additionally, for many patients, a mouth rinse can be an added layer of benefit and prevention of dental issues. Therefore, a good general care routine for most patients involves flossing, mouth rinsing, and brushing (in that specific order). Twice a day, you can follow this basic routine:
Floss between all your teeth, with the goal of removing food particles that your brush can not reach. (Regular dental floss is always preferred, only use floss picks or water flosser if you can not floss with regular floss)
Rinse your mouth with water to remove all loosened food particles, or with mouthwash for some added protection/prevention benefits
Brush all surfaces of your teeth for a total of 2 minutes.
Don’t rinse after brushing to get the most benefits from your toothpaste.
How should I brush and floss with braces?
There is some additional care if you are currently undergoing orthodontic treatment with traditional “wires and brackets” braces. It is of utmost importance that you can keep up with your oral hygiene during your time in braces. Speaking realistically, it is challenging for patients in braces to keep up their brushing and flossing. We often see multiple small cavities in patients who have recently had their braces taken off.
We still recommend flossing first, as this can remove food particles trapped both between your teeth and between the braces. Flossing will be more difficult in braces. The best way to floss properly in braces is to use a floss threader to properly have the floss work between your teeth. However, we realize this difficulty can contribute to patients skipping the floss altogether, leading to more issues. In the place of floss, you can use an interproximal brush specially designed to brush away food between teeth with very thin bristles. Additionally, pre-fixed floss picks exist with a low profile or offset head for the pick to fit underneath the spacing of your wires and brackets.
After flossing, using a mouth rinse is highly recommended to remove the food debris that has been loosened and provide some extra protection from the antiseptic properties of the rinse.
Next, you will want to take extra care brushing between the braces, teeth, and gumline. As opposed to patients without braces, you will need to angle your brush to effectively clean around the bottom and top surfaces of your brackets.
Finally, consider a second rinse to flush out any other food particles that may have been loosened from brushing.
How should I brush and floss if I have a dental bridge?
A dental bridge is a popular way to replace a missing tooth or multiple teeth so the patient can begin chewing with that portion of their mouth again. However, maintaining good oral hygiene is critical to keeping your bridge and surrounding teeth healthy. Because your bridge is typically only supported by two teeth, keeping those teeth healthy is extremely important. Should cavities develop underneath or around the dental bridge, it risks the integrity of the bridge and risks being able to put even a new bridge on. Additionally, it can be easy to have food stuck underneath the bridge, and food particles must be removed daily. A floss threader is the best way to properly floss underneath a bridge. However, many patients prefer using an interproximal brush or a water flosser to keep the bridge and gums underneath the bridge clean.
How should I brush if I have a partial denture?
You should always remove your partial denture before sleep each night. The best time to do this is while brushing before bed and using a separate care routine for your partial denture before storing it away for the following day. After removing your partial denture, brush and floss your natural teeth as per typical instructions. For your denture, we recommend either using a denture cleaning product or just simply brushing it with mild dish soap. Do not use toothpaste on your dentures, as the polishing agents can be too abrasive or leave residue in your partial denture. Since your partial denture may also cover areas of your gums and the roof of your mouth, it can be beneficial to gently brush those areas after you finish brushing your teeth. We do not recommend wearing your partial in the evening, however – if you prefer to be sure your natural teeth and dentures are completely clean to avoid food buildup and potential cavities.
How should I brush if I keep having food stuck?
Patients often have issues removing food particles from between or behind their teeth. Usually, your local dental hygienist or local dentist will point these areas out to you, but some patients can identify these areas themselves. When untreated, these difficult-to-clean areas can lead to recurring cavities and potentially even worse symptoms if undiagnosed. Common reasons for this include gum recession (leaving spaces between the teeth where the gums were), crowded wisdom teeth, and misaligned/overlapping teeth. Unfortunately, this is often out of the patient's control, and no matter how diligent the patient is, there is no practical way to keep these areas clean. This is why visiting your local dentist regularly for checkups and cleanings is so important.
Conclusion
As a self-care step, you can use interproximal brushes and thinner floss to reach these areas in the back of the mouth or other hard-to-reach areas. For misaligned or overlapping teeth, the area may be more prone to plaque buildup or food being stuck because your toothbrush may be unable to brush effectively – you can try angling your toothbrush differently (at a vertical angle or holding it with a different grip) to reach those spots. Ultimately, we recommend visiting your local dentist to have them identify if these areas can be thoroughly cleaned as part of your dental routine or if it is most effective to be seen more frequently by a dental hygienist.