7 Bad Habits To Avoid When Brushing Your Teeth

Brushing your teeth is an integral part of any healthy oral care routine. However, it’s not just about brushing your teeth – it’s also essential to ensure you do it correctly. Certain bad habits can hurt your dental health and even lead to severe tooth problems. To ensure you maintain a healthy smile, here are some bad habits to avoid when brushing your teeth:

First, don’t brush too hard or for too long. Brushing too aggressively can damage tooth enamel and irritate gums, leading to gum recession and other issues. Additionally, be sure not to rush through the process; aim for at least two minutes of brushing each time.

You Don’t Brush Your Teeth For Long Enough

It’s impossible to brush your teeth properly in 30 seconds.  Unless, of course, you only have two teeth in your mouth!  For the rest of us, though, we must spend a full two minutes brushing our teeth.  Set your stopwatch and spend 30 seconds on each quarter of your mouth.  Most electric toothbrushes have a built-in timer that will alert you every 30 seconds.

Being short on time is not an excuse.  There are 1,440 minutes a day, so it’s not hard to spend just 2 of them each morning and night.

You Don’t Concentrate On Brushing Your Teeth

Next time you brush your teeth, watch yourself in the mirror.  It will be easier to spot which areas of your mouth you’re missing with your toothbrush.  Watching TV or walking around the house while brushing makes it much more challenging to do an excellent job of cleaning your teeth.  Avoid multitasking and concentrate on the critical job at hand.

You Use The Wrong Brushing Technique

Using the wrong technique to brush your teeth can cause permanent damage to your teeth and gums.  Brushing your teeth from side to side can cause your gums to wear

away.  Instead, brush your teeth using a small circular motion.  If you use an electric toothbrush, focus on one tooth at a time.  For manual toothbrush users, brush a few teeth at a time before moving on to the next section.  Hold your brush at a 45-degree angle to your gums and gently brush every tooth.  Be sure to brush the outside and inside, and bite the surface of every tooth.

You Don’t Floss Your Teeth

No matter how well you brush your teeth, it is impossible to clean every surface of your teeth using a toothbrush alone.  Floss is needed to clean the area where plaque builds up between your teeth.  Whether you floss before or after you brush is not particularly important.  The important thing is that you floss between your teeth every day before you go to bed.

You Use The Wrong Toothbrush

To properly clean your teeth, you need the right tool.  Using a soft or extra-soft toothbrush with a small head is essential.  The soft bristles will clean your teeth without damaging your gums.  Using a toothbrush with a small head is easier to maneuver to reach areas that are difficult to clean.  Your toothbrush will need replacing every three months.  If the bristles become frayed, you may need to replace them more often.  A good rule of thumb is to get a new toothbrush every time the season changes.

You Use The Wrong Toothpaste

From having the right toothbrush to knowing the proper technique, brushing your teeth is more than a twice-daily task. While it’s crucial to establish an excellent oral hygiene routine, many people overlook one of the most critical aspects: selecting the correct toothpaste. Unfortunately, using the wrong type of toothpaste can lead to serious dental issues in no time; therefore, familiarizing yourself with bad habits to avoid when choosing a toothpaste is essential.

To start off on the right foot, select a fluoride-based toothpaste that meets the American Dental Association’s efficacy and safety standards. If possible, opt for whitening or tartar control formulas that target specific concerns such as plaque or sensitivity.

Using the correct toothpaste is essential to avoid damaging your teeth.  Many kinds of toothpaste contain baking soda.  While this is great at removing stains, its abrasive properties can leave permanent scratches on the surface of your teeth.

You Brush Too Hard

Brushing too hard, especially in a side-to-side motion, can wear away the enamel of your teeth.  Enamel is the top surface of your teeth and has a shiny appearance.  Wearing away the enamel can eventually lead to notches in the teeth near the gums.  This can cause tooth sensitivity and may require a filling to relieve the discomfort.  Aggressive tooth brushing can also wear away the gums and cause a recession, contributing to tooth sensitivity.

Start using a soft-bristled brush that fits comfortably in the mouth to care for your smile correctly. Gently brush in small circles around each tooth, and don’t forget to clean the gum line. Avoid scrubbing or pressing too hard on the teeth, as this will only cause enamel erosion over time. Additionally, take care not to use a sawing motion back and forth across the surface of your teeth, as this can create undue pressure on the gums resulting in receding gums or discomfort.

Conclusion

With modern medicine, people are living longer than ever before.  This means that your teeth need to last longer than they used to.  Taking proper care of your teeth and avoiding these common brushing mistakes will help ensure that your teeth last for the rest of your life.