3 Ways you are brushing your teeth wrong

We are all aware of how long we should be brushing our teeth (2 minutes) and that we should be brushing after every meal. And while we might not follow these guidelines strictly, it’s something we all know we either are or are not doing.

However, there are a few things that you might not know you are doing wrong when it comes to brushing your teeth.

1. You are brushing too hard

If you hold your toothbrush in a tight death grip and push the bristles firmly against your teeth, you are doing your tooth enamel more harm than good. It can also hurt your gums and lead to gum recession issues. This leads into point #2….

2. You are holding your toothbrush at the wrong angle.

For optimal brushing effectiveness, you should hold your brush at a 45 degree angle to the front of your teeth. Then you want to brush your teeth in small circles, or small strokes one tooth at a time. This is the same for the back sides of your teeth – keep the brush at a 45 degree angle and simply turn the brush bristles to face out, then brush behind your teeth.

3. You forget to brush your tongue

While the focus of brushing is on your teeth, it is important you don’t forget to brush your tongue as well. Your tongue is one of the biggest sources of bad breath. This is because of food debris that get stuck on it and the microbes that live on your tongue’s surface. Studies have shown that by brushing your tongue you can reduce bad breath by as much as 70 percent.

While this is not an exhaustive list, these are some of the most common ways we find people incorrectly brushing their teeth.

If you have any questions, we are happy to talk to you and demonstrate proper tooth brushing techniques at your next checkup.