What does proper oral hygiene give us?
- Prevention of caries.
Microbes and food particles stuck in the interdental spaces negatively affect the enamel, gradually destroying it. - Elimination of unpleasant odor.
The gases released by bacteria have a very unpleasant odor. In addition, food particles remaining in the mouth begin to decompose over time. As a result, bad breath appears, and thorough brushing of teeth perfectly freshens breath. - Remineralization of enamel.
Using strengthening toothpastes with a mineralizing effect will help strengthen the enamel and make teeth less susceptible to acid attack. - Healing and soft tissue massage.
The stability of teeth directly depends on the condition of the gums, and daily brushing prevents inflammatory processes in soft tissues and improves the overall condition of the oral cavity. - Prevention of diseases.
Microorganisms living in the oral cavity can cause ENT diseases, such as tonsillitis. Poor hygiene will contribute to this.
Since childhood, we have heard that if you don’t brush your teeth morning and evening, you will get caries. Those who share this opinion try their best when brushing their teeth. However, for most people, caries appears on their baby teeth and accompanies them throughout their lives.
The likelihood of caries depends not only on the quality of daily hygiene, but also on other factors: genetic predisposition, general health, diet, etc. Perhaps the inevitability of tooth decay undermines the belief in the need to torment yourself with brushing your teeth twice a day.
And how difficult it is after brushing your teeth in the evening to give up eating something delicious while reading a book or watching a movie... besides, careful care includes not only brushing your teeth, which is why it is called oral care!
Dentists recommend cleaning the spaces between teeth with floss (dental floss) and brushes, cleaning your tongue with a scraper, rinsing your mouth with mouthwash, and if you have dentures, crowns on implants or braces, use brushes for hard-to-reach places and an irrigator. Wow, “a couple of minutes in the morning and evening”!
Obviously, the tedious and unpleasant procedure of brushing with a toothbrush turns into a more complex oral care ritual for at least 10 minutes. And don’t forget that all equipment for comprehensive care must not only be purchased once, but also regularly updated (perhaps except for the irrigator).
Even choosing a toothpaste is not easy. If you want to keep your teeth healthy, don’t buy the first one you come across in a beautiful package, choose only those recommended by your dentist. The brush and rinse should also be chosen as directed by your doctor.
Just a waste of time and money! But caries will still come.
It may seem that the careful oral care that is being promoted is only needed by the manufacturer of hygiene products. Is that what you thought?! Well, would dentists write such an article? It turns out that careful care is still necessary and can protect us from something?
Let's take a break from dental problems and talk about cars. Let's draw an analogy between comprehensive dental care and routine car maintenance. Maintenance (MOT) cannot guarantee against breakdowns and damage to the car during a trip, however, regularly performing this very costly activity can save you from a bigger disaster, and whether or not to do this is a matter of choice for each car owner.
And what greater disaster can careful, comprehensive oral care protect you from?
As we have already discussed, tooth decay is likely to appear sooner or later. And curing it is not such a difficult task. What's worse than caries?
The only thing worse than a tooth destroyed by caries is the loss of teeth. And this happens, most often with periodontal disease - a complex of tissues surrounding and supporting the tooth. One of the main reasons for the development of this disease is improper oral hygiene.
Periodontitis is an inflammatory disease of periodontal tissues called the “silent” killer of teeth.
According to the WHO (World Health Organization), severe periodontitis, which can lead to tooth loss, is found in 15-20% of middle-aged people (35-44 years). This slow-motion video shows how periodontal disease develops silently and how it leads to tooth loss:
The same process of destruction of periodontal tissue, but in an accelerated form:
Periodontitis develops slowly and often painlessly, so in the early stages it is ignored and the disease is allowed to progress. Gradually, pathological periodontal pockets, bad breath are added to the inflammation and bleeding of the gums, the tissues that support the teeth are destroyed, and periodontitis becomes severe, which can no longer be treated.
Caries can be cured at any stage, a damaged tooth can be restored with a crown, and severe periodontitis leads to tooth loss. This will be worse than caries.
From two short videos you will receive confirmation of the seriousness of periodontal disease and learn about comprehensive oral care for effective protection against this disease.
At the beginning of the article, we said that the quality of teeth cleaning cannot be assessed independently and only a dentist can give an objective assessment of our daily efforts. Only a doctor, based on the results of a preventive examination, can recommend toothpaste, brush, mouthwash and other products to maintain proper oral hygiene in relation to your dental condition.
Unfortunately, even careful daily oral care is not enough to keep your teeth and gums healthy! The presence of hard-to-reach places in the oral cavity does not allow you to remove all plaque, so you need to have your teeth professionally cleaned at least 2 times a year. You will learn more about this procedure from the article To prevent periodontitis, do professional hygienic teeth cleaning 2 times a year.
Finally, we suggest watching several videos that demonstrate the use of basic daily oral hygiene products.
You will learn personal instructions on the selection of products for daily oral care and the rules for their use from your dentist during a hygiene lesson.
Now that you know exactly why you need careful dental care, we recommend that you sign up for a preventive examination and professional hygiene.
Why brush your teeth at night
At night, the human body rests, and its main systems go into “sleep” mode. The salivary gland is no exception, which is why in the morning we feel dry mouth and a great desire to drink. This happens because during sleep, saliva is practically not secreted, which means it does not perform its important functions:
- does not wash away food particles and bacteria from the surface of the teeth
- does not help regulate the pH level (acid-base balance) in the mouth
Didn't you brush your teeth before bed? This means that they are left with plaque accumulated during the day, food particles, as well as microorganisms that will happily feed on them until the morning. In such a comfortable environment, colonies of bacteria will quickly form. All night long they will release acids that destroy enamel, as well as gases, which cause bad breath in the morning. All this can be avoided by brushing your teeth thoroughly after your last meal.
If you have to choose between mandatory brushing of your teeth in the morning or before bed, then give preference to the latter option. During the day, saliva, solid foods and water will help you cope with plaque and bacteria, but at night your teeth become defenseless.
How to brush your teeth correctly?
Improper brushing of teeth is a phenomenon whose scale is enormous. Almost all of us do not know how to brush our teeth the way we should. Despite the apparent simplicity of the process, there are a lot of “nominal” methods of brushing teeth in the world. All of them differ in the nature of movements, sequence and position of the brush relative to the teeth or gums. For example, the famous dentist Reite suggested placing the toothbrush at an angle of 90 degrees, and Stillman distinguished himself by recommending that when brushing your teeth, press as hard as possible on the gums. Fortunately, modern dentists have taken only the best from the works of their colleagues and reduced it to a few general rules on how to brush your teeth:
- The cleaning itself should last at least 3 minutes;
- The brush should be held at an angle of 45 degrees relative to the teeth and gums;
- In order not to spread germs throughout the oral cavity, it is recommended to divide the procedure into two parts: first brush the lower dentition, and then the upper one;
- You should start with the front teeth, gradually moving to the back teeth;
- The lower teeth are brushed from bottom to top, and the upper teeth from top to bottom;
- The chewing surface of the teeth is processed in a circular motion;
- After rinsing your mouth, don't forget to clean your tongue, where a lot of germs also accumulate. Remember that the tongue is covered with plaque, which is the same breeding ground for microbes as deposits on the teeth;
- At the end of the procedure, it is recommended to use mouth rinses;
It is recommended to brush your teeth twice a day: after breakfast and dinner. This is a classic of oral hygiene. But it’s no secret that the habit of carrying out hygiene procedures before the morning meal is not so uncommon. Many older people are accustomed to brushing their teeth in the morning before eating. They will have to do this after breakfast, or change their habit. Since no one can brush their teeth in a dream, in the evening brushing is done after dinner or the last meal. Of course, ideally you should brush your teeth even after lunch, but this is not always possible. You can get out of the situation by simply rinsing your mouth or chewing gum for 10 minutes, but no longer!
What can happen if you brush your teeth irregularly or poorly?
- Caries will appear.
Plaque on teeth constantly attracts food particles and bacteria. If you don’t brush your teeth, microorganisms will feel so comfortable that already on the third day their number in the oral cavity will exceed the entire population of the Earth. All these bacteria will begin to secrete acids that will gradually destroy the enamel. This will allow the infection to penetrate into the tooth and tooth decay will begin. - The color of the teeth will change.
All foods, even green tea, contain dyes. Because of them, the plaque becomes pigmented, that is, stained, and the teeth darken as a result. Professional oral hygiene will help restore them to their natural shade. - Tartars form faster.
The soft film on the enamel mineralizes over time and turns into tartar. In fact, this is an inevitable process, since it is impossible to remove all plaque from the surface of each tooth even with the simultaneous use of a toothbrush, irrigator and floss. But those who brush their teeth thoroughly and regularly at home have less hard deposits and they form more slowly. - There will be a bad breath.
Microbes living in plaque emit gases with a very unpleasant odor. If you don’t remove biofilm from the surface of your teeth well, you can forget about fresh breath. - Your gums will become inflamed.
Gradually, tartar penetrates under the gums, and if they are not removed using ultrasound, then over time an inflammatory process will begin in the soft tissues - bleeding, pain and bad breath will appear. - Your teeth will become sensitive.
If you do not pay attention to gum inflammation, over time the soft tissues will cease to be elastic, they will begin to decline, and the teeth will appear longer because their roots will be exposed. At this point, you will have to exclude everything sweet, salty, sour, cold and hot from your diet, as tooth sensitivity will increase. - Teeth will lose stability.
Due to the severe inflammatory process, the tissue that holds the teeth in the socket is destroyed. They become unstable and may simply fall out over time.
Even incorrect movements when brushing your teeth and excessive pressure on the toothbrush can lead to abrasion of the enamel and the appearance of defects on it. Consult a hygienist to teach you the proper technique for brushing your teeth. This is an excellent prevention of caries and other oral diseases.
Why should you brush your teeth?
The oral cavity, in which the teeth are actually located, is the most infected of all cavities of the human body, and insufficient care for it can lead to dire consequences. Leftover food under the influence of bacteria will be subject to decay, rotting and fermentation. In addition, soft plaque will release acid, which destroys the enamel, resulting in the formation of caries. All this harms not only the teeth, but can also provoke diseases of the internal organs, reduce the body’s defenses and become a source of bad breath.
Do you need to brush your teeth? Of course, it's up to you to decide. Even ancient people, not knowing about the danger of caries, tried to clean their teeth after eating with the help of homemade toothpicks in the form of grass stems and chewed sticks. Unfortunately, throughout the existence of mankind, it has not been possible to teach everyone to take care of their oral cavity. It is still not uncommon to find “instances” who believe that brushing your teeth is a completely useless activity. For example, in China, half of the rural population has never even held a toothbrush in their hands. It is clear that the price for such negligence is the loss of teeth, and a toothless person has never been a role model in developed societies.
Before or after breakfast
Just a few years ago, dentists advised patients to brush their teeth after eating. However, if you analyze the situation and turn to the opinion of experts, this approach does not seem so clear-cut.
Often people don't think about why exactly they brush their teeth. Many people do this just to leave the house with fresh breath and get rid of leftover food. But there is another side to the issue: dental plaque. It is plaque removal that is the main purpose of morning teeth brushing. If this is not done before eating, a significant part of the plaque is eaten by the person along with food.
Another argument in favor of not brushing your teeth for at least 40 minutes after eating. Food contains acids and other substances that can have an active effect on tooth enamel. Simply put, brushing your teeth immediately after eating carries a real risk of removing a thin layer of enamel from your teeth, which has been softened by acids.
All the arguments in favor of brushing your teeth in the morning before breakfast can be summarized as follows:
- During sleep, salivation decreases and acidity in the oral cavity increases due to the abundance of bacteria. If you don't brush your teeth before eating, bacteria from the food will enter your digestive system.
- Many people in the morning experience an unpleasant taste in their mouth, bitterness, and discomfort from bad breath. Before eating, it is worth restoring the normal microflora in the mouth.
- Food acids negatively affect enamel. When brushing your teeth after eating, the brush can damage the protective layer of enamel exposed to acids. When the enamel layer is damaged, acids and other aggressive substances can penetrate deep into the tooth, reach dentin and trigger the development of caries.
Conclusion: brushing your teeth immediately after waking up - that is, before eating - significantly reduces the likelihood of developing caries.
Why is it necessary to brush your teeth?
When you wake up, do you feel an unpleasant taste in your mouth? This is because small pieces of food get stuck between the teeth. Food debris affects the inflammatory process in the gums. By not brushing your teeth in the evening, you contribute to acid imbalance. During sleep, the regular production of saliva is suspended, which serves to further multiply bacteria.
Liquid intake also affects oral hygiene. For example, according to statistics, of all existing drinks, people most often drink black tea and strong coffee. Both drinks stain the enamel yellowish.
