Elena Khorsheva, dentist at the Refformat clinic, doctor of the highest qualification category
• Brushing your teeth should be at least twice a day - in the morning, before meals, and in the evening before going to bed. This is optimal for maintaining the integrity of the enamel, preventing dental and oral cavity diseases.
• It is important to make “sweeping” movements from the bottom up (from the gum to the edge of the tooth), cleaning the front and back walls of the teeth. The chewing surface should be cleaned in a circular motion.
• Take three minutes to brush your teeth.
• It is important to exclude horizontal movements from the outer and inner sides of the tooth, because excessive pressure during horizontal brushing causes the so-called wedge-shaped defect and increases the sensitivity in the cervical area of the tooth.
• The ideal scheme looks like this: first brush the smooth surface of the teeth with a brush, then with a thread - the contacts (gaps) between the teeth, and with a brush - only the space between the teeth near the gums.
• In addition, you can use a sulcus irrigator (this is about 1 mm deep into the gums). At the end of the hygienic procedure, I recommend doing a massage of the marginal gums in a comfortable mode for yourself without pain (this stimulates blood flow and trophism, that is, cellular nutrition of the oral mucosa). This technique will be relevant both in the morning and in the evening.
• I do not recommend rinses on a regular basis. Only individually according to indications and dosed depending on the state of the oral cavity. Basically, rinses should be used after occupational hygiene - a course of no more than 14 days.
• For the mineralization of teeth, I often prescribe the use of mineralizing gels. After regular evening brushing of teeth, apply the gel to clean teeth, let it stand for a minute and rinse slightly. It is better to do this just before bedtime, so that the gel works at night.
• Between meals, you can use oral foams to remove unpleasant odors and form a protective film on the surface of your teeth.
• In addition to caring for the teeth themselves, it is important to pay attention to the interdental spaces, as food particles remain there, which become a favorable environment for pathogenic flora - microorganisms that form dental plaque. To cleanse these areas, special dental floss is suitable - they do an excellent job without injuring the gum.
• There is no need to brush your teeth after every meal. Nature has thought of everything for us. A natural plaque forms on the enamel - a pellicle, which protects it from external influences and absorbs food particles. This is a kind of acquired film containing a large amount of glutamic acid, amino sugars and other useful substances.
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• Manual mechanical brushing is still the most effective method. It is this tool that allows you to control the force of pressing, focusing on the subjective sensations of the body, and not on the recommendations of an electrical device. Each person is unique, and it is impossible to create a product that is equally applicable to everyone.
• Electric brushes should be used in cases where a person cannot control the force of pressing - the pressure of the brush on the teeth (the brush becomes like a nest, the bristles stick out in different directions). One of the obvious advantages of electric toothbrushes is the timer, which allows you to control the amount of time allotted to certain areas of the jaw. For example, Foreo's innovative ISSA 2 toothbrush "suggests" every 30 seconds to move on to cleaning a new area of the oral cavity. Thus, without noticing it, a person fulfills the recommendation of dentists for proper teeth cleaning.
• Toothbrushes come in different degrees of hardness. It all depends on the individual skills of each. To make your choice - look at yours in the bathroom. If the bristles point in different directions and are disheveled, you are pressing hard on your teeth. In this case, stiff bristles are contraindicated for use, there is a risk of quickly deforming the tooth enamel.
• Optimal choice - super soft, soft and medium brushes with a large number of bristles, from 1700 to 5500 per square millimeter. They will give the desired result. Ideally, the bristles should be sized to cover one and a half teeth. This is necessary to clean not only himself, but also the interdental space.
• The best shape of a toothbrush is an even contour. Although it is not perfect, there are times when cleaning the back edge of the tooth is necessary. Elongated bristles come to the rescue here. However, they will already have a negative effect on other areas, exerting significant pressure on the enamel. You can use your own version in each case.
• You should also pay attention to cleaning the tongue, because it accumulates food debris. It is recommended to brush your tongue once a day, preferably at night. This should be done with a special brush without using a paste, to prevent profuse salivation due to the reaction of taste buds.
• If plaque or bad breath occurs, additional consultation with a gastroenterologist is necessary. The condition of the tongue may indicate destructive changes in the gastrointestinal tract.
• It is very important to make it a rule to visit your dentist regularly. Preventive prophylactic methods are much more gentle and effective than surgical intervention. Periodic examination allows timely monitoring of the patient's dynamics and gives the doctor the opportunity to act proactively and prevent the development of serious pathology.>