Brushing & Flossing

DENTAL HYGIENE TIPS FROM YOUR DENTIST IN NARBERTH, PA

Here at Main Line Center for Dental Excellence, we want to provide for you what our name says—dental excellence! Achieving dental excellence doesn’t solely consist of visits to your dentist in Narberth, PA; it also requires adherence to a great at-home oral hygiene regimen. The cornerstone of a good oral hygiene regimen includes properly brushing and flossing your teeth. Practicing a committed oral hygiene regimen will bring you many benefits, such as healthy teeth and avoiding costly dental treatments. Because it’s so helpful, we’d like to give you some tips on how to properly brush and floss your teeth. 

BRUSHING

When it comes to keeping your smile healthy, brushing your teeth regularly is one of the most important steps you can take to prevent tooth decay and cavities. Whether you're using an old-fashioned manual toothbrush or a more advanced Sonicare electric toothbrush, here are a few tips on how to optimally brush your teeth.

HOW TO BRUSH WITH A MANUAL TOOTHBRUSH

Since brushing is so vital for your dental health, we suggest brushing four times per day (once after each meal and then again before bedtime). To optimally brush your teeth, we recommend using a soft-bristled toothbrush with fluoridated toothpaste and then following these steps:

  1. First, place a small strip of toothpaste on your brush.
  2. Hold your toothbrush at about a 45-degree angle against your gum line.
  3. Brush gently in small, circular motions so that you can reach food particles that are underneath your gum line.
  4. Continue brushing the outsides of all of your teeth, remembering to brush down on your upper teeth and up on your lower teeth.
  5. Do the same for the insides of your teeth as well.
  6. Use a back-and-forth scrubbing motion to clean the chewing surfaces of your teeth.
  7. Finally, brush your tongue and the roof of your mouth before you spit and rinse your mouth thoroughly.

HOW TO BRUSH USING A SONICARE ELECTRIC TOOTHBRUSH

We highly encourage our patients to use an electric toothbrush, such as a Sonicare toothbrush, to brush your teeth. In fact, many of our patients find that their oral hygiene significantly improves when using one of these toothbrushes, and they wonder how they ever got by without one! 

Electric toothbrushes make cleaning your teeth much easier—simply hold the brush head at the gum line, turn on the timer, and it’ll do most of the work for you. It even turns itself off after two minutes have gone by—the recommended amount of time for brushing. To optimally brush your teeth, we recommend using your Sonicare toothbrush with fluoridated toothpaste and then following these steps:

  1. Wet the bristles and apply a small amount of toothpaste to your brush.
  2. Place the toothbrush bristles against the teeth at a slight angle towards the gum line.
  3. Press the power on/off button to turn on your Sonicare toothbrush.
  4. Apply light pressure to maximize Sonicare's effectiveness and let the Sonicare toothbrush do the brushing for you.
  5. Gently move the brush head slowly across the teeth in a small back and forth motion so the longer bristles reach between your teeth.
  6. Continue this motion throughout your brushing cycle.

FLOSSING

Because there are areas between your teeth that a toothbrush won’t be able to reach, flossing is a task that’s just as important. Dental floss is a thin thread of waxed nylon that can reach between a person’s teeth and below the gum line to clean them. We recommend flossing daily and following these simple steps: 

  1. First, pull a small length of floss from the dispenser.
  2. Wrap the ends of the floss tightly around each of your middle fingers.
  3. Guide the floss between two of your teeth all the way to the gum line, pulling out any food particles or plaque that’s there.
  4. Unwrap some clean floss from around your fingers as you move onto the next set of teeth, continuing this process until you’ve flossed between all of your teeth. Remember to floss behind your back teeth as well. 

While your gums may bleed when you first floss, please don’t be alarmed at this. However, if the bleeding doesn’t stop after you’ve flossed a few times, let one of our staff members know at your next appointment.

VISIT YOUR DENTIST IN NARBERTH, PA!

While keeping up with brushing and flossing teeth is most of the battle, it’s still crucial to regularly visit your dentist in Narberth, PA for dental exams and teeth cleanings. If you’d like to schedule an appointment with us, feel free to give us a call at (610) 664-6061. If you have any further questions, pleasecontact us and let us know. In the meantime, if you're not already using a Sonicare, we encourage you to check out all of the Sonicare electric toothbrushes and consider upgrading to help keep your smile at its healthiest. We hope to see you soon and help you maintain dental excellence!