Cleaning your teeth effectively means getting to know your mouth’s tricky spots, where food and bacterial plaque get trapped.
Brush your teeth after every meal if possible, or at a minimum, two times per day—when you wake up, and before you go to bed. Studies have shown that mechanical toothbrushes are superior to manual toothbrushing at removal of plaque.
If you do use a manual brush, try and brush for at least two minutes whenever you brush. Many mechanical brushes have built in timers, that alert you when it’s time to switch areas of the mouth and when two minutes have passed. You may be surprised at how long two minutes is!
If you’re using a manual toothbrush, consider purchasing a dime store game timer (the kind you flip and watch the grains run out). You can purchase two minute “sand” timers online (or at many convenience stores) for about a dollar.
The mouth is full of nooks and crannies that can be difficult to clean—including overlapped or crowded teeth; under dental restorations like bridges or braces; and the deep pits and fissures of the back teeth. It’s important not to miss the gumline, where the teeth emerge into the mouth. There is a cuff of gum tissue there called the gingival sulcus that is notorious for trapping plaque.
The animations will help you to understand these concepts, so that you can make the most out of your brushing efforts.
Brush your tongue
Volatile Sulfur Compounds (VSCs) accumulate on the corrugated surface of the tongue. They’re the ones that cause bad breath (halitosis). In order to remove them effectively, it’s important to brush your tongue every day—or use a tongue scraper.
VIDEO:
http://www.toothiq.com/TV/video.aspx?id=26
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