Not sure if this is 100% scientifically backed but I read a bit by a dental hygienist on a forum that you shouldn’t rinse when brushing with proper toothpaste because it can help remineralize the teeth if when its not rinsed away after
Its annoying but its a good way to cut down on mindless snacking at the very least for me so its something I do sometimes. Hope its not voodoo
Waterpik Sonic Fusion. I brush before bed, and wake up feeling almost “from the dentist” clean. Also the whole thing has timers so I don’t have to worry about that.
For sensitive gums, my dentist told me to rub the (sensitivity) toothpaste directly on my gums before going to bed. The toothpaste builds up the tissue.
Listerine seems to help remove plaque effectively. Since start using it in the middle of the night when I wake up, not getting regularly cleaned doesn’t seem to be a problem anymore. This is coupled with flossing and thorough brushing of course.
Waterpik, both between the teeth and then the low power gum one, followed by rinsing with Listerine complete, takes such good care of my gingivitis that I don’t even need to get cleanings for plaque anymore. I might scrape some off every 6 months or a year if even. I used to get migraines from it daily, then needed cleaning every 6 months. Total game changer
My dental hygienist told me not to rinse. “You’re paying for the fluoride, why wash it away?” Makes sense. The dentist told me not to use mouthwash, because it upsets the mouth’s natural pH.
My biggest find lately is silicon toothpick thingies - interdental brushes. They get to crevices floss can’t reach.
Oh, it gives some physical shudders and looks terrifying to me :-). That felt pretty strong so I had thought that it might be a reaction most folk have.
Tips I have learned over the years. In priority order.
Buy a sonicare toothbrush. They are supposed to be better than even Oral B because of the sound waves they produce. May seem expensive but far cheaper than almost any dental procedure. Studies have shown that electric toothbrushes clean better than manual.
Brush daily.
If you cannot brush one day at least use a flouride mouthwash.
Do not use water on your toothbrush. Something in water hinders the effectiveness of flouride.
Do not rinse your mouth with water after brushing. Leave that toothpaste on your teeth.
Buy a water pik and use it. They clean better than flossing.
It’s a very small quantity of stuff that your body can easily manage to break down or expel. And you not having a cavity ever is just survivorship bias.
Can confirm 1. At least for me it worked great. They make a lot less noice then the oral-b with the rotating head and the head is a lot smaller. The smaller head enables me to reach all teeth.
This is for all my floss-averse people out there: put floss plackers in your car. I floss way more this way than in front of my sink. Yes, not optimal dental hygiene but there’s just something that just clicks in my head and makes me want to do it when driving around vs literally any other time.
I’m glad that you’ve found a routine to help you floss but reading this made my whole body shiver. Do you floss while you’re driving? And what do you do with the floss picker when you’re done???
Yep, while driving, stopped, or parked and trapped in the car with whatever task is involved in the commute. I keep a little trash container in the car for normal trash and just chuck the placker in there when done.
This doesn’t sound as bad as using your phone but you really shouldn’t take either hand off the steering wheel for more than a second to change gear or adjust something on the dash. This practice sounds too dangerous for the convenience it brings.
Yep, you shouldn’t rinse your mouth, because a proper toothpaste has fluoride, which helps remineralize enamel. Keep in mind it won’t restore already decayed enamel though.
Anyway, I am not that sure about electric toothbrushes. At least it’s not necessary. On Wednesday when I’ve been on dental check-up, I asked my dentist whether electric toothbrush would be a good idea. She said “Well… it can be… but you already do pretty good job of cleaning your teeth, so I just recommend you stick to that.” I just use a regular toothbrush. However, just the brushing does take me a while. About 10-12 minutes. Yeah.
Well, something that could be a tip is xylitol chewing gum. Most sugar-free gums use xylitol. It is artificial sweetener that’s actually good for teeth. It helps remineralize teeth like fluoride, remove plaque build up, and it kills acid-producing bacteria. That is because the bacteria consumes it like regular sugar, but it can’t process it, so it just dies. You can also buy xylitol as a powder, because it’s, well, a sweetener.
Now to the disadvantages of xylitol: Consuming larger amounts (I think it’s just around 25g) can cause diarrhea and cramps. It is also extremely toxic to dogs. Just 100mg/1kg can cause them seizures and 500mg/1kg can cause death. Obviously that’s just approximate, so keep your dog away from xylitol.
Disclaimer: I am not a professional in this field.
Electric toothbrushes are excellent for stimulating the gums and keeping them in good order so they don’t recede. The Sonicare are especially good for this reason.
I do the xylitol gum! I think countries in asia regularly markets this as part of good dental hygiene for those reasons you listed. Some of the gum containers advertise, white healthy teeth. Not sure why the US doesn’t promote xylitol gum more.
On electric toothbrushes, my hygienist basically told me: Imagine how many times you go back and forth manually with your hand when brushing. Now compare that to how many times an electric toothbrush can do the same in the same time frame. So the latter is more effective.
All the advances in toothcare seems to be around fancier electric brushes or other gadgets, but regardless we’ve never been able to move away from ‘brush for 2 minutes’. I want some fancy device I just bite down on and it zaps my whole mouth clean in 5 seconds.
Waterpik is nifty, but I found a solution that works well in conjunction with it, but without the frustration of flossing . Gum Proxabrush are little brushes that go between your teeth to scrub out the gunk. My hygienist was saying they work better than floss. I’ve really liked them.
Doesn’t the WaterPik sort of negate the don’t rinse thing, or are you saying less is more in terms of water getting in the way of remineralization and you net benefit from using that for flossing. I definitely prefer it over physical floss
Use flosser first, THEN brush without rinsing. Got it 😁
Rinsing with salt water seems to work well for me. I have no idea what the science says about it though. But there is some talk in new treatments about ionizing stimulating healing, and I wouldn’t be surprised if salt water does a bit of that too.?
I also wouldn’t be surprised if it helps remineralize. Very subjectively it feels like it does a little, but it’s easy to fool oneself with wishful thinking. Preferably have a dentist monitor results.
I am allergic to some types of mouthwash so I was told to use salt water but not as often as you’d use regular mouthwash (only every few days) because it’s rougher on your teeth or some such, I can’t remember the reasoning.
I spoke with a dental hygienist in a hot tub once (that’s how you know this information is solid). She did say to avoid rinsing or mouthwash after brushing with fluoride toothpaste. She also wasn’t a huge fan of alcohol mouthwash in general as it kills both good and bad bacteria. Too bad because I really do enjoy the “burn” feeling when I use it.
If you drink juice with toothpaste still in your mouth, it’s awful. The toothpaste is basic, the oj is acidic as you said. The reaction doesn’t taste food. This was a joke, not advice.
I was told by my dental hygienist that although you shouldn’t rinse after brushing, you can spit as many times as you want. Your saliva isn’t going to be able to totally rinse off the fluoride the way water will. IME it usually only takes a few extra spits to get from overwhelmingly minty to present but bearable.
I got a sensodyne toothpaste recently that doesn’t have that overwhelming toothpaste taste. It’s the nourish stuff and its flavor is “natural mint and citrus oil”, and it’s mostly not the mint that I taste. It was super weird for a few days, but I strongly prefer it over toothpaste flavored toothpaste.
Maybe something like that would work better for you, as well.
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