Improve Your Brushing and Flossing with These Tips

The best defense against tooth decay is correctly brushing and flossing your teeth. Unfortunately, many people rush through their dental hygiene because they are running behind schedule in the mornings, and they may skip it before bedtime. To take proper care of your teeth, you can improve your brushing and flossing with these tips.

Use the Correct Toothbrush

The best toothbrush to use has soft bristles. If you brush your teeth and gums too hard, medium or hard bristles can damage your gums and cause them to bleed. When our dentists at Grand Family Dental in Pflugerville, TX, examine your teeth, they can tell if you brush your teeth too hard.

Hold the Bristles at the Correct Angle

When you’re ready to brush your teeth, hold the bristles at a 45-degree angle to your gums. Also, don’t press too hard on the head of the brush. Instead, use just enough pressure on the toothbrush to feel the bristles against your gums and between your teeth.

Use a Circular Motion While Brushing

Use short circular strokes when brushing your teeth, which will clean about two teeth at a time. Make sure to brush the front, back, sides, and the top of the teeth while brushing. Our dentists at Grand Family Dental can show you the best way to hold your toothbrush to clean your teeth.

Choose Any Type of Floss

The best floss to clean between your teeth with is the type that you like using. It doesn’t matter if the floss is waxed or not or if you use a holder, pick, or hold it with your fingers. As long as you floss, that’s all that matters.

How to Floss Effectively

If you hold it between your fingers, leave about an inch of floss to clean your teeth. Gently use a sawing motion to move the floss down to the gum line, and stop when you feel resistance.

Then, curve the floss around the side of the tooth and gently scrub back to the top to remove bacteria or food particles from your teeth. Repeat this method for both sides of a tooth.

By correctly using your toothbrush and floss, your teeth will stay healthy and clean. This will make our dentists happy at Grand Family Dental in Pflugerville, TX.