How To Treat Your Teeth Right
An attractive smile can make a person appear £10,000 better off, it has been said.
Yet many of us fail to give our teeth the attention they deserve – or are unwittingly causing irreparable damage to them, a dentist has warned.
Dr Uchenna Okoye, a London dentist and smile director for Oral-B, says people often brush at the wrong time of the day, too quickly, and use outdated tools.
Her warning comes as a survey reveals one in three people apparently forget to clean their teeth in the morning.
The poll found 35 per cent of these people blame their partner in some way, claiming they distract them in the morning or hog the bathroom.
Here, Dr Okoye, clinical director at London Smiling Dental Group, reveals to MailOnline how to care for your teeth as a dentist would – and avoid common pitfalls…
DON’T BRUSH UP AND DOWN
Scrubbing up and down wears away and erodes the gums so they recede.
Instead, brush in gentle circular motions, tickling and massaging the teeth and gums, Dr Okoye said.
She added: ‘If you’re using a manual toothbrush, you should be scrubbing in circular motions.
‘The bristles need to go into your gum, rather than skating over the surface. This is because the bacteria is hiding in the “cuff” of the gum.
‘If people aren’t brushing properly, their gums start bleeding.
‘They then tend to give up on brushing or swap to a softer brush – but it’s important to use a medium strength brush.
‘If you have crooked teeth, angle the brush to go over them.’
She advises dividing the mouth into quarters and spending an equal amount of time on each section.
‘The quarters are the outer surface, the top biting surface, the inner surface, then in between these teeth.
‘With an electric tootbrush you brush one exactly the same way, circular movement, but angling the brush the same way.’
While most people brush their teeth for 30 seconds at most, they really should be brushing for longer, Dr Okoye said.
She said: ‘The thing with brushing and looking after teeth, it’s keeping you there long enough to get the job done.
Two minutes is a long time, but you should be brushing for a minimum of two minutes, and if you can, five minutes.’
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