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I floss and electric toothbrush every night. My dentist routinely complements my hygiene. Every cavity I’ve had filled in the past 8 years started from before I had an e-brush.
At a recent visit after remarking on how little plaque I had, my dentist asked if I brush twice a day. I told him no, only once a day.
He immediately changed his tune and told me that I should brush twice a day for better results.
I think he’s in the pocket of Big Paste.
Healthy teeth have a lot to do with genetics too. I’m a once/day brushed (with a powered brush) and never flush unless something’s stuck in my teeth and I don’t get cavities or have other teeth and mouth problems. My wife brushes twice a day, flosses, and uses mouth wash, and has had 12 root canals, and has cavities 25% of the time she gets her cleanings done.
There are two other main differences between us. She loves sugar and I’d prefer anything salty. I’m sure this isn’t helping her and is helping me since sugar is our mouths’ enemy.
The sugar is honestly probably the biggest factor here. Plaque is just bacteria poop, and giving them a bunch of sugar is basically speedrunning their growth and telling them to produce as much poop as they possibly can.
What I left out is that I don’t know anyone in my family with teeth issues and she definitely does. Her mother had garbage teeth as does her father. But yeah, sugar is bad for you period.
Not brushing in the morning and at night is noodling my melon. Always brushed twice a day, floss at night. Surely you have morning breath everyday?
Not really. Mouthwash as well before bed. Never struggle with odor. And I wear a night guard to boot.
Edit: oh and a tongue scraper helps
Morning breath is caused by bacteria replicating overnight so even if you use mouthwash and a tongue scraper before bed, I promise you have morning breath. I've tested it myself with my wife by doing all sorts of hygiene before bed. Floss, water rince, tongue cleaning, brush, then mouthwash but still my breath smelled in the morning. Its just a fact of reality. Please brush your teeth in the morning for those of us that end up smelling your breath.
People have wildly varying body chemistry. Your experience is not everyone’s experience.
I am like him and have had that experience confirmed by numerous romantic partners over the decades.
I also only brush at night with an electric toothbrush and get the same compliments from my dentist. I also keep plackers at my desk (work from home) and use them regularly. Although I've never told my dentist I only brush at night.
I think one thing that helps is my toothbrush does a pattern at 30 second intervals so I brush for a total of 2 minutes every time hitting each quadrant relatively evenly.
The first time I used this toothbrush, I was floored by how much cleaner my teeth felt.
I brush with a regular brush in the morning (if I don't have to leave the house sometimes I don't), have perfect teeth and get compliments from my dentist.
Flossing is another story. She notices.
When's the last time you flossed?
Morning or night?
read the comment again from the beginning.
Mourning or knight?
I feel like it’s more than that…
When I switched to electric 7 or 8 years ago, I really didn’t like it. It was super uncomfortable and tickled my mouth.
I just powered through it because I was told that I would get used to it.
Indeed I did get used to it and quickly began to feel that I had never actually properly brushed my teeth before going electric.
Part of what helps is the little extra pulse every 30 seconds and auto shut off after two minutes. Really keeps you on track with 30 seconds in each quadrant of your mouth.
Two minutes is a long time so having the timer built into the toothbrush is super helpful.
Only concern to note is that applying too much pressure and/or using the maximum vibration setting can be bad for your gums and cause recession.
Be very gentle with the electric toothbrush so that you do not cause any excessive gum recession.
Once you get used to electric, a conventional toothbrush will seem archaic.
Hey replying to you because well its an empty threat so far
Basically you me and everybody else could have improved technique with an electric toothbrush
You have to plan not too much pressure and just kind of hold it and move back and forth
I still don't have perfect technique and I don't brush every night. So sad for me I know
In other words cool beans good luck brushing your teeth every night
You get ones that flash when you’re doing too much pressure.
After going with a sonic toothbrush, I felt my teeth were actually clean. Much cleaner than before.
This was my experience as soon as I went electric too, yes. If anything, the only thing that's surprising about the article title to me is that it's only 20% more plaque!
Maybe it's because the authors gathered research papers on all types of electric toothbrushes?
In my experience, the difference between manual and electric toothbrushes is huge. I'm no longer nervous about visiting my dentist.
I trust approximately zero science about dental care, given the industry's track record.
A systematic review by Cochrane is probably the most trustworthy source in medicine.
An electric toothbrush and more importantly a water flosser have saved me thousands in dental treatment costs.
I've got a waterpik and I just can't get on with it at all. How on earth are you supposed to use it? You can't use it sideways because there's no pressure, so it has to be sort of vertical, which feels really weird to aim and you can't see what you're doing. The last time I tried, it was like I hosed down the bathroom, with water everywhere. It also managed to be so powerful that it cut my gums.
The right way to use one certainly doesn't feel elegant. You just have to flip it around a lot while facing down at the sink and hope you don't snipe a spider on the ceiling by accident.
Use the lower pressure settings to start and just get a feel for manipulating it around your mouth. I try to spray between my teeth and you can reach that gap from the sides as well as the bottom.
I mean, as they kind of point out in the article, this doesn't actually say terribly much. I've always had the impression that electric toothbrushes are great for scrubbing off the plaque on the big surfaces of your teeth, while they're probably worse at reaching all the weird little angles of your teeth. This could result in 20% less plaque in total, while not removing it from where it lingers around and causes cavities. At the same time, if you also floss regularly, maybe you've got your weird little angles covered differently already. It depends on quite a few factors, for which a meta study like this can hardly do justice...
I was surprise it was this low. The wording of the study result is a bit different, it's not % of effectiveness, it's a % reduction in plaque.
The evidence produced shows benefits in using a powered toothbrush when compared with a manual toothbrush. There was an 11% reduction in plaque at one to three months of use, and a 21% reduction in plaque when assessed after three months of use. For gingivitis, there was a 6% reduction at one to three months of use and an 11% reduction when assessed after three months of use. The benefits of this for long-term dental health are unclear.
I wish in countries like mine things like electric toothbruses weren't like luxury items but things everyone could have. Got mine too late for my teeh but ever since I got it I no longer worry about dental plaque. Cavities and such things are hell on earth. Or, well, in your mouth.
I will add that a waterpik is a really nice tool to add to your dental hygiene routine.
I would like to taint this info with the knowledge that pik means 'penis' in Dutch
well i never had a penis in my mouth but i dont mind penises on my partners....
I also sprinkle a little baking soda on my toothpaste to further remove plaque
Serious?
I don't think that this removes more plaque, but it does neutralize the acids that they produce which damages teeth.
Baking soda can be used to brush teeth. There are brands of baking soda that have their own line of toothpastes that have baking soda as an ingredient.
I used to brush 3 times a day, but I’m not using the filthy office restroom for my dental hygiene, so dialed it down to two. I can’t fathom brushing only once a day. I should floss more though. Once every blue moon isn’t exactly dentist recommended.
I blame the moon for not being blue more often.
I guess I went full circle since I returned back to classic ones. I used electric one for years but suddenly I started to feel with my tongue that it didn't do good job. Changing the head didn't help. My dentist was also surprised but she suggested to try to use also classic one when I finish with electric. And voila, it really did the job. To this day I'm not sure what happened ...