Personal hygiene is a priority for everyone. We all have our own tools of the trade in our efforts to stay clean and in good repair. Toothbrushes are a big piece of the puzzle. Choose your weapon but choose carefully.
During the 15th century, a hog bristle toothbrush was as good as it got and because of the steep cost of hog bristles, an entire family would have to share one. A good toothbrush is no longer considered a luxury and having cavity free teeth doesn’t have to be either.
Manual Toothbrushes
There’s nothing better than a marathon session with your old toothbrush. But while a skilled brusher can get the job done right, precaution should be taken.
Brushing too hard, or indeed using a brush with bristles that are too hard, does not make for a better cleaning job and can in fact harm your mouth. Manual toothbrushes should be soft. Hard bristles can damage gums and push food and plaque up into the gums, defeating your efforts to remove plaque. Likewise, brushing too hard can cause gums to bleed and cause abrasions to the surface of the teeth. This leaves more room for plaque build-up. For children, there are all kinds of colours and styles of manual brushes that can make brushing fun. This is important to parents who often struggle to get kids to brush without a fight. If you have developed a good technique for brushing your teeth, coupled with regular flossing, a manual toothbrush is all you’ll ever need.
Powered Toothbrushes
Whether your powered toothbrush is electric or battery powered, those whirling, vibrating bristles are nothing, if not fun. For many parents, powered toothbrushes have ended the struggle to have their children brush their teeth on a regular basis. Regardless of which toothbrush your child uses, it is recommended that their practice of teeth brushing be supervised until around the age of seven. The powered toothbrush has increased in popularity over the years, but do you get cleaner teeth with a powered toothbrush? The answer doesn’t lie in the brush and rotating bristles but instead on how you brush. Whether you use a manual toothbrush or powered toothbrush, how you brush is still more important. If you are a child with limited motor skills or suffer from arthritis or any another disability that restricts the motion needed to brush, a powered toothbrush can be a God send. Powered toothbrushes can cost considerably more than a manual one. While a manual toothbrush will cost on average $3, a powered toothbrush will cost between $10 and $200.
What you decide to brush with is not nearly as important as how you brush your teeth, how long you brush your teeth and how often you brush your teeth. It will be those with the best brushing technique, as well as the flossers, who pull away with the win against tooth decay.
If you live near the Port Dalhousie neighbourhood of St. Catharines, and are in need of dental care for you and your family, consider Lakeside Dental. We are a full-service family and cosmetic dental office with a spacious single treatment room allows us to concentrate on serving one patient at a time.
