Brush up on your brushing skills
Plaque never stops accumulating because it is made of millions of bacteria that reproduce. They reproduce even more quickly when there are sugars present in our saliva, after eating sweets or drinking juices or fizzy drinks. Eat something really sugary and then wait an hour and you can feel the layers of plaque forming like fur on your teeth.
Learning to brush correctly
Children have to learn how to brush their teeth so that they remove plaque. But adults sometimes also need to brush up on their skills.
When you come to see the hygienist here at Parbold Dental in Ormskirk, you can get any build-up of plaque removed. The hygienist will use special tools and pastes to remove the plaque, which tends to build up between the teeth and around the gum line.
But, once your teeth are nice and clean, it’s worth also having a chat about your dental hygiene routine. Have a chat about what kind of brush you are using. What type of paste too. If you are older, your tooth enamel might be getting thin and it can be important not to use tooth pastes or powders that are abrasive as they will remove what enamel you have left.
Manual toothbrushing
If you are using a manual toothbrush, you will need to use it differently from an electric brush.
Remember that you are trying to sweep the plaque away and off your teeth, so brush down in sweeping movement away from the gum line. Get the hygienist to demonstrate. Also, about how to hold your brush when brushing on the inner surfaces of your teeth. Also, what about those back teeth? It’s important you get right behind them, and so ask about how to hold your jaw so that you can get behind your back teeth more easily.
Electric toothbrushing
With electric toothbrushes, it is more about holding the brush over each tooth surface so that the brush’s vibrations can do the removal for you. You don’t need to move the brush up and down in a scrubbing motion.
We love teaching this kind of stuff, so please do ask next time you come in.