If you wonder why brushing your teeth is so important, you are not alone. After all, brushing them can sometimes seem pointless. Why can’t you just pop in a piece of chewing gum? Or rinse with mouthwash? If you don’t mind brushing, you may not enjoy flossing. Why do that? The reason to brush (and floss) is for the removal of plaque from your teeth. Why is removal of plaque important? Read that post to find out.

The American Dental Association (ADA) has set the toothbrush head dimensions as follows:

• 1.25 inches long
• 3/8 of an inch wide
• 2 to 4 rows of bristles
• 5 to 12 tufts per row

The bristle diameter can be broken down into soft (.16-.22mm), medium (.23 to .29mm), or hard (.30mm or more). The ADA recommendation for everyone: use a soft bristle toothbrush!

Why do toothbrushes have nylon bristles as opposed to natural bristles? There are a number of reasons, including how well the bristles can be made uniform in size, elastic and resistant to tearing.

The best way to brush your teeth?

The Bass Technique is the recommended method, although there are others that may be equally as effective.  This method can be difficult, so don’t worry about getting it perfect.

Here is a step-by-step guide:

1. Place the brush at the change from gum to tooth, at a 45 degree angle. You can see the picture below for an example.
2. Place light pressure, so that the bristles go into the gingival margin, which is the overlapping gum that sits at the bottom of your teeth. Again, use light pressure.
3. Move the brush back and forth, using a small a vibratory motion, keeping the pressure the same and the brush at the same angle and location along the parallel to the margin.
4. You will also need to get the occlusal (biting) surface of your teeth, so work these in as your brush. Make sure you cover all surfaces of all teeth, brushing for about 2 minutes total.

Again, make sure to cover every surface of the teeth. If needed, go in a patterns, covering all sides of the teeth using the method above, giving around 20 seconds total for each:
1. Upper right

2. Upper front

3. Upper left

4. Lower right

5. Lower front

6. Lower left

It is important to brush twice a day. While some can get by on only once per day, brushing twice or more is best practice toward eliminating plaque and, as a result, eliminating cavities.

Image source: Dr. Chetan

Plaque is made of microorganisms, which work to breakdown the enamel of your teeth. There are other reasons why removing plaque is so important. If your dentist has told you that brushing will remove plaque, but you don’t know why removing it is important, here are a few reasons why it is important:

1. Removal of plaque will reduce or eliminate the formation of cavities. It will also prevent “calculus” from being formed. Calculus is essentially the hardening of the plaque.
2. The removal of plaque goes a long way toward treating gingivitis, since it will decrease the inflammation associated with the condition.
3. The overall brushing away of plaque on a regular basis will help to prevent periodontal disease, which can cause chronic inflammation, bone loss and other conditions.
4. If you don’t combat plaque on a regular basis, you will not be able to maintain oral health.

The accumulation of plaque for an extended period of time causes the body to stimulate an immune response, which will cause the body to release chemicals. One of which is osteoclasts, which work by breaking down bone. Obviously, this is not ideal.

Keep this in mind as you are considering how to handle your oral health. When your dentist tells you that removal of plaque is important, it is for good reason. Maintaining good oral hygiene by brushing your teeth goes a long way toward maintaining not only oral health, but systemic health as well.

Gingivitis is generally caused by plaque. When plaque deposits are in contact with the gingiva (gum), it causes an inflammatory response, commonly called gingivitis.

For those that are concerned about gingivitis and want to know what some of the signs are for the disease, the following is a list that shows the signs and some details about them.

1. Bleeding on Probing (abbreviated, “BOP”)

When visiting the dentist and upon probing the gingival crevice, if there is bleeding, it is called BOP. Healthy gingiva (gum tissue) does not usually lead. BOP is the first sign of possible gingivitis, occurring even before inflammation and/or discoloration. Commonly, a patient will notice the bleeding upon brushing and flossing.

2. Color Changes

The normal gingiva color ranges from different shades of pink to more blackish (in darker individuals with more melanin pigmentation). Once gingivitis sets in, the tissue will become more red, then darker red, before becoming blue in time.

3. Gingival Enlargement

Normal tissue size is quite thin, with the edge against the teeth with a knife edge. As the gum becomes more enlarged, it will get puffy and the knife edge will disappear. Edema and fibrosis are commonly present.

There are other, more clinically noticeable signs of gingivitis, but these are usually the first noticed by patients.

There are a few things you should consider when you are looking for a dental care provider.

First, do you already have a dentist you go to regularly (or not so regularly)? If so and if you feel comfortable with that dentist, you should probably go back there. Your previous provider will know your history and this always helps with proper diagnosis and treatment in the future. If you don’t have a dentist or you don’t “like” the one you are going to now, it may be time to look somewhere else. One bonus about staying with the dentist you are with now is the savings in cost. A lot of times, you can save money on x-rays and exams from a dentist you have seen recently. Just keep this in mind while deciding where to go for your dental treatment.

Where to Find a New Dentist

You can start by looking locally. Obviously, you don’t want to drive long distances just to go to the dentist. You want to go somewhere close. If you are in a rural area, you may be limited in the number of choices you have. For those from more urban areas, there should be plenty of options. Since you are already here, you can search for a local dentist at our dentist search page. Feel free to look around. Simply enter your zip code and you will get listings based on distance. From there, you can find the address and phone number to the dentist’s office. This is a free and easy way to find a dentist.

Doing Your Homework Before Becoming a Patient

When you are searching for a place to be a new dental patient, make sure you do your homework before committing. You don’t want to get into a dental visit only to discover you will have to pay hundreds of extra dollars for x-rays and fees. You may be drawn to offers for “free teeth whitening” or something of that sort. Services like these are great, but make sure that you know what you are getting yourself into. To make sure that you aren’t left in a sketchy position, contact the dentist’s office and ask about the costs associated with a visit before you go. Obviously, cost can vary based on your dental care, but there are some base costs that will be charged as soon as you sit in the patient chair.

You can ask to see if any of these are covered by insurance you have or by a dental plan. If you don’t have either, you can look into dental plans, which are great way to save money while avoiding the paperwork associated with dental insurance. If neither of these are possible, start looking at of out of pocket expenses. No matter what, make sure not to get into a situation you aren’t comfortable with. After all, you are going to the dentist, which can be uncomfortable at times already. No need to add injury to insult!

If you are looking to find out more about dental prosthesis, you can visit a new website with articles about the subject. In short, dental prosthesis relates to the dental specialty prosthodontics. This is the specialty related to dentures. Dentures help many people of all ages, particularly the elderly, to leave healthier, more fulfilling lives. This is due to the ability of dentures allow people who couldn’t eat before to now eat.

Dentures can give people who didn’t have the ability to smile before to smile. It also makes a person look natural with their mouth closed, instead of having the appearance that something is missing from their mouth. This is a before and after picture of the difference dentures make.



Edit: Also added to the MyDentalPlans network was a dental explorer resource.

Most people don’t think much about old people’s teeth. Younger people probably assume most older people have dentures. This is sometimes the case and it is true that many elderly people have dentures, but this isn’t always the case. Some don’t have many of their own teeth left and ALSO don’t have dentures.

The next question: why does it matter?

It matters because elderly dentition (their teeth) is important for the intake in food. Many elderly people have lost a spouse or loved one and are at higher susceptibility to depression and/or eating alone. This leads to a lower appetite. To make matters worse, a lack of teeth adds to the problem of not eating enough.

This can lead to these individuals being malnourished. What does this do? It make any current health problems worse. It adds to bone problems. It makes the life expectancy of a person decrease. There are many consequences of not having proper dentition and this is especially true in the elderly population.