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What’s Your Toothbrush?

Dental HealthLifestyle
Dental HealthLifestyle

Our teeth need to last us a lifetime, they help us chew our food and give us a great smile (essential for the perfect selfie!). When our teeth or gums give us issues it can end up with the trips to the dentist for unnecessary treatments. We’ll happily spend a small fortune on moisturiser and other luxuries but when it comes to toothbrushes, it can be all about the ‘colour & price’, surprisingly some people still find brushing their teeth a chore or even worse, tend to skip it completely!

We all need a toothbrush but with so many on the market, how do you know if you have the right one and what should you look for when buying one. A toothbrush needs to fit your mouth as well as all as all the hard to reach areas and angles.

It’s a good idea to understand what the job of the toothbrush is.

  • Removing plaque from your teeth
  • Getting rid of harmful bacteria that help support gum disease
  • Stimulate your gums.

There are three types of toothbrushes on the market,

  1. Manual – A manual toothbrush is just that – it is manual. This means that you have to use your own power to brush your teeth. For many people, a manual toothbrush gets the job done. Yes, it may take a little bit more time of brushing up and down and in circles to clean all of your teeth, but manual brushes are a tried-and-true method of cleaning your teeth. Manual brushes are definitely the most affordable option. The key to being successful with a manual is your technique. You have to make sure you are brushing your teeth the right way to get the most out of a manual toothbrush. If you’re not sure what that is why not ask on your next visit here
  2. Electric – An electric toothbrush takes a manual toothbrush and turns it up a notch. You can increase the number of brush strokes you make by as much as ten times versus a manual brush. Electric brushes have rotating bristles that help you clean your teeth. You still have to position the brush in the different areas of your mouth and help it along, but these kinds of toothbrushes take some of the work out of your hands. To be successful with an electric brush, you must follow proper brushing techniques. These brushes are more expensive than manual brushes because you have to replace the rotating head when it gets worn out.
  3. Sonic – A sonic toothbrush is an electric toothbrush, only much faster! This kind of brush will give you more than 30,000 brush strokes every minute. That is a lot of brushing, and you don’t have to do very much. You do have to make sure you are guiding the brush to the different areas of your mouth, but it takes a lot of the work out of brushing. These are the most expensive types of toothbrushes, but they are an ideal choice if you have limited mobility in your hands and arms.

Signs that you may need a new toothbrush or may not be brushing correctly include,

  • Bad breath
  • Trapped food in between your teeth (brushing and flossing go hand in hand!)
  • Bleeding gums when you brush or
  • Gums that are coloured pink.

We understand that your choice and type of toothbrush may be restricted to your budget especially if choosing new toothbrushes for everyone in your family every couple of months. But a good quality brush can save you a lot of money (and visits to see us) in the long run.

We recommend renewing your toothbrush every 2-3 months, depending on the state of the bristles.

So maybe now’s the time to go and have a good look at your toothbrush and see if it’s still up for the job and if looks like you need to renew maybe go for a toothbrush that isn’t in your favourite colour, if you’ve always used a manual brush, why not upgrade to an electric!

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