Just out of intrest, its a bit off the subject but i have allways wanted to ask a dentist this question but informally. I brush my teeth the reccomended twice a day and do my best to look after my teeth without obviously being an expert, however every time I go to the dentist useually allways need work, i broke 2 back teeth and obviously needed crowns and have had a few fillings etc. My question is, do you have any reccomended tecniques regarding brushing? if so can you reveal? and what toothpaste and mouthwash will help me with my oral well being? I feel like i am wasting my dentists time asking these sorts of questions I dont know why. Your response will be mutch appreciated.
good point tyke_jow at school I was taught to brush up and down at the front and side to side at the back but I'm sure that I once saw a TV programme that reckons brushing up and down is the worst possible thing you can do at the front of your mouth because it damages your gums
we get taught how to brush at our dentist Every time you go they make sure you're still doing it right. Angling the brush into the gum line is their preferred method. They seem far more concerned about the gums than the teeth.
carnt say I have ever been advized or shown Jay, hence the question. I just thaught it could be the only reason why I was allways requireing work due to not brushing them properly or useing the best equiptment for the job, but there are that many ways and alternitives you dont know whats best so I thaught id try and seize the oppertunity.
soz didn't see this This video is a reasonable summation. http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-brush-your-teeth Dispensing tablets are called disclosing tablets in the UK. After a week you should find you're not leaving anything behind and so can stop using the tablets once you've got your technique down. As Jay says, it tends to be the gums we're most concerned with as far as technique goes. From the decay prevention perspective it is more the fluoride that does it than the plaque removal. On that not, Colgate do a mouthwash called Fluorigard. People with high levels of decay benefit from a third fluoride dose at the 4-5pm mark and this sounds like a possibility for you. Most of all though, decay is down to diet. After you eat, bacteria in your mouth (and there will always be literally billions of these even straight after brushing) use your food to power themselves, producing acids as waste products and the pH in your mouth drops dramatically. Below a certain pH level (called critical pH, normally around 5.5) mineral deposits in your tooth enamel will begin to dissolve into you saliva. Over the period of 2-3 hours the pH neutralises and minerals from your saliva begin to deposit back into the tooth surface. So the less time your mouth spends below critical pH the less mineral is lost and the more time above it, the more effectively remineralisation will occur. [img=http://www.ncl.ac.uk/dental/oralbiol/oralenv/images/stephan11.gif] Look at this graph to see the point. Now add in a polo mint or two between breakfast and coffee and a few cups of sugary tea thrown in and suddenly that graph is never above critical pH. So here are the general tips - 1. Amount of sugar consumed - keep this down by eating healthily. Processed foods tend to be high in sugar whereas cereals, nuts and fruit are less so. Wean yourself off sugar on cereals and in hot drinks, and buy sugar free or low sugar squashes and soft drinks. 2. Frequency of intake - In order to allow your mouth's pH to neutralise and give your teeth time to recover from the acid attack, limit yourself to 5 intakes of food and drink a day. Fill up at mealtimes and follow meals with a long drink. Then don't snack between them, keep to glasses of water. It's not the meals that do the harm, it's the odd sweet here and there or can of pop that you don't think about that does it. 3. Early supper - Eat your supper an hour before you go to bed. The graph doesn't show it but since saliva flow falls dramatically during the night, a cup of sugary cocoa directly before bed can see you spending half the night below critical pH. If you take supper an hour earlier your mouth has extra chance. Hope that is some help.
Oh and 4. Chewing sugar-free gum after meals stimulates saliva flow and this gets your mouth back to neutral pH quicker. Here endeth todays dental clinic.
Revvie P I have just printed that off and watched the video too, I have diabeteas like so I have to snack every 2 hours so that carnt do my teeth any good but after reading that I will consider alot more how and what i am eating at snack times. thanks alot for the advice it has been taken on board.
