Tips to Improve Your Brushing and Flossing Habits

Technique for brushing: The toothbrush must be taken and placed at an angle of 45 degrees to the upper jaw and the gum line. The plagues must be removed by sliding the brush away from the gum line. The tongue surface also must be brushed and the process must be repeated for the lower jaw. The brushing technique must be done so gently.

Time taken for brushing: The time taken for brushing must be at least 2 minutes with 30 seconds for each side. Only then can one assure that each part of his teeth gets cleaned. This little extra time you spend for caring your teeth will save you money later in your life.

How often do you change your brush? Brushes with the bristles worn off will not clean your teeth completely. The brush must be changed every three months or when the bristles start to tear off. Also use good quality brushes.

Do not use hard bristles: If the hard bristles are used then it will tear off the gum line surface of the teeth and will lead to cavity formation, which will result if the enamel is lost.

Number of times to brush: You should brush at least two times a day to have healthy teeth. many people think that brushing in the night is useless. But the fact is that brushing in the night is more important than brushing in morning. By night, many food residues may have accumulated on your teeth. if you don't brush in the night, bacteria will act on the food particles. that will be inviting trouble. therefore brush two times a day - thats a must.

Flossing technique: 18" of the floss must be placed within the middle finger. By using the thumb and forefinger, it must be sided to upper and lower jaw. For each section of the teeth new floss must be used and plague must be removed completely.

Type of floss to be used: You can choose either Nylon (multifilament), which may be waxed, or unwaxed with many flavors or PTFE (monofilament), which is normally expensive. If you choose one type, continue to use it. don't change the material rapidly.

Floss gently and properly: Flossing if done wrongly may affect the gum line. So it must be done with proper care and must be done without any injury to the teeth. Gums will surely bleed and become sore for the first few days of flossing. But it should heal sooner after all the bacteria are removed.

Use commercial floss holder: In case there is no proper finger pattern to be handled then you can use a floss holder that will be more efficient especially for children under the age of 10. The plagues must be removed by sliding the brush away from the gum line.

Establish time and pattern: Flossing cannot be learned with one time attempt. It will take much practice. A regular pattern must be set so that any of the teeth are not missed and time must be taken for flossing each tooth.