Teeth & Bad Breath

Another crucial part of hygiene are your teeth. In fact, they are crucial to your overall health. Research shows that pain or infections in your teeth can lead to heart conditions, general mood issues, and more. Keeping a clean mouth makes your teeth prettier and last longer. It also reduces bad breath.

Not so long ago, people thought that brushing your teeth once a day was more than enough. The quality of their teeth shows that they were wrong. Brushing your teeth once a day is the absolute minimum you should do.

These days there are four main tools to keep a clean mouth:

• Regular toothbrush
• Electric toothbrush
• Dental flossing
• Toothpicks

Regular vs Electric

The electric toothbrush has become more and more popular, and for a good reason. Turn it on, move it along both rows of teeth, and you are sure of a clean mouth. You are unlikely to apply too much (or too little) pressure or brush for the wrong period of time. It can easily touch hard-to-reach spots. Most dentists will recommend you use one.

Why doesn’t everybody use it then? Because a decent one—that will last long—is rather expensive. Additionally, regular toothbrushes are easier to carry with you, and are less heavy.

Use this information to choose which one to use for yourself.

How often should I brush my teeth?

Most people do it twice a day. After they’ve had breakfast and are about to go to work, and after they’ve had their dinner (or last snacks) before they go to bed. This is fine, but it’s the bare minimum.

• If possible, brush after every meal.
• Brushing alone isn’t enough. Toothbrushes can’t reach the space between teeth, which are also the spaces where most bacteria reside and where most issues occur. More on this later.

How to Brush your Teeth

What’s the point of brushing?

• Get rid of all food leftovers (on your teeth)
• Put fluoride on your teeth to make them strong and provide a layer of protection.

Check if you brush well, by checking if you reach these goals. Some tips:

• Before brushing, clean your teeth by drinking some water (and moving it around in your mouth). Otherwise, your brush will immediately be dirty from food leftovers the second you start.
• For about 2 minutes, subtly move around your brush on every area of your mouth in a slow circular motion. Pay special attention to the gums: cleaning those is crucial, but rubbing too hard will hurt them and cause problems.
• Also scrub your tongue. It also contains food leftovers and bacteria.

Floss vs Toothpick

One of these is necessary for healthy teeth. They remove leftovers from between teeth, which brushing cannot do. They literally put something through that space (floss wire or the toothpick itself) to push things out.

Which one you use doesn’t matter: some dentists promote toothpicks, some promote dental floss. I will provide you with a small how-to on both.

How to Floss

Most floss wires come in a little plastic box. Before you start flossing, take out a piece of floss wire about the length of your arm. Then take one or two inches of the wire between your hands.

• Place one end in your mouth, and the other just in front of it.
• Slowly move the floss wire (in a sawing motion) through the areas between your teeth.
• Be careful to stay between teeth, otherwise you might hurt your teeth itself.

To get the most out of it: kinda hug one tooth in a C-shape while going up. Do the same with the other tooth when moving down. This ensures you reach all parts of the space.

When you’re done with one space, get a new small piece of clean floss by moving the wire between your hands, and move on to the next pair of teeth.

Obviously, you are done when you’ve flossed all pairs of teeth.

How to use a Toothpick

Just like flossing, you stick it between pairs of teeth. It’s not supposed to go through! If it’s too easy, if it goes too far, get a bigger toothpick.

Most toothpicks have one straight and one curved side. The curved side should point towards the center of your mouth. (Which means the straight side points away from your tongue.)

If you never used one before, your gums might bleed a bit. This is normal and regarded as a healthy sign. If this keeps happening, consult your dentist.

To get the most out of it: penetrate each space three times with your toothpick. Once straight. Once with the toothpick angled to one side, annd once with the toothpick angled to the other side.

Why? When you look at your teeth, you’ll notice the space between them is more triangle-shaped. Using this method, the pick will scratch every side of that triangle, removing as much as possible.

Best Practices

Don’t brush too hard or fast. You do not need enormous amounts of pressure. Doing this will only hurt your teeth and gums. (“Overbrushing” is a real thing.)

Brush every part of your mouth well, not as quick as you can.

Don’t use too much toothpaste. It isn’t healthy, if you swallow any of it. It’s wasteful. Putting a bubble the size of a pea on your brush should do just fine.

It’s best to brush

• The front of your teeth in a small circular motion
• The top/bottom (chewing sides; the ones pointing towards each other) in a linear motion
• The back with the toothbrush going up and down vertically.

Drink or eat foods with calcium in it. Or chew a lot of gum. These will strengthen your teeth and keep the mouth moist.

Also, avoid beverages that are bad for your teeth: “sugarbombs”. If needed, drink them with a straw.

Replace your toothbrush every 3 months. If you need to replace it much earlier, because hairs are falling out or its breaking, it’s a sign you’re brushing too hard.