Dental Advice

Regularly brushing your teeth – twice a day, morning and night – is one of the simplest methods to reduce your risk of developing a wide range of dental problems including decay, gum disease and abscesses. However brushing will only help prevent these issues in areas which have been cleaned properly; any areas which are missed when brushing will remain at risk of disease. Commonly, it is quoted that teeth should be cleaned for 2 minutes each time you brush. While this is a good starting point, in reality you should be cleaning for as long as it takes to ensure that each and every tooth is adequately cleaned. Often this will take at least 2 minutes to complete. Areas that are commonly missed include your back teeth (especially if you have wisdom teeth) and the part of the teeth along the gum line. Furthermore, brushing does not clean in between your teeth at all, meaning that a large portion of each tooth is not cleaned when you brush. As a result, your regular cleaning routine should also include flossing or another method to clean in between your teeth.