Peter brushed his teeth three times a day, once after each meal. He did it very quickly, in less than a minute he was done. He brushed with a manual toothbrush, as he was afraid that an electric toothbrush could damage his teeth. But he did it with a lot of force, in order to completely remove the dreaded bacterial plaque. Sometimes his gums bled, which he attributed to proper and thorough dental hygiene.
However, Peter was completely wrong. He had some concepts confused and overlooked the most important thing: bleeding gums were a symptom of something he was not doing quite right.
In this new blog entry of the dental clinic Velez & LozanoWe, dentists of reference in the Region of Murcia -specialised in children's dentistry, dental implantology, treatment against bruxism and prosthesis, among other treatments-; are going to clarify some concepts in order to carry out a correct daily dental hygiene.
If the gum bleeds, something is wrong.
Gingivitis, even occasional gingivitis, should not be overlooked as it could lead to periodontal disease with subsequent bone loss and even tooth loss.
Even if we are disciplined and brush our teeth three times a day, this does not exempt us from suffering from this pathology, which can also be linked to certain habits such as smoking, age and even genes.
Renew your brush
Electric toothbrushes do not have to damage our teeth. Tooth erosion is usually caused by poor brushing technique, even if it is a conventional toothbrush. Nor should we use too much force: an oscillating-rotating-pulsating electric toothbrush with a pressure sensor is recommended to avoid damaging our gums.
What we do need to do is to renew the brush every three months or as soon as we notice that its filaments are open or worn. At this point we must also remember that brushing (whether manual or electric) should last at least two minutes.
Brush your tongue and floss your teeth
Gingivitis is often caused by poor oral hygiene. We often think that by brushing our teeth we are already taking care of our mouth, however, there are other habits that we should follow to complete our daily routine.
Interdental brushes help us to reach those spaces that conventional toothbrushes cannot reach, as does dental floss. In addition, mouthwashes and tongue brushing complete the oral cleaning procedure and help to eliminate bad breath.