I almost always read in the news/press that dentists recommend to brush teeth two times a day for 2-3 minutes.

This drives me crazy, because it does not make sense; The point for dental health is to systematical clean every surface of your teeth twice a day (and use inter-dental brushes/floss once a day). For me, brushing my teeth takes around 6 minutes, if I hurry up. For someone faster it might be possible in 1 minute.

So, why do dentists always give the 2-3 minutes recommendation?

  • Omega_Haxors@lemmy.ml
    1·
    10 months ago

    Buy high fluorine toothpaste and put a TINY (I mean, miniscule amount) on your toothbrush. There should be only a few speckles of the stuff on there. Then brush just enough to ensure each and every nook and cranny is covered in the stuff, rinse and spit. If the next time you go to brush you still taste the toothpaste, you put on too much and therefore don’t need to reapply it. Just put on a little less next time.

    Never had a cavity since I started doing that, and I’m not even a 1/16th through the tube. Best money I ever spent.

    EDIT: A few other dental tricks that will help dramatically:
    1. You don’t need to brush twice a day, once is plenty and preferably before bed
    2. Don’t brush right after eating/drinking especially if it was acidic, that tears your enamel apart
    3. Use only a pea-sized blob of toothpaste, if you use it like they show you in the commercials, you’re an idiot
    4. The primary goal of brushing is to apply fluoride, the secondary goal is to get shit out of your gums
    5. Tooth whitening is a scam designed to poke at your insecurities. If you buy into it, you’re an idiot
    6. Dr. Fortnite says floss every night. Use a water flosser or pay attention to how your dentist flosses as their technique is immaculate
    7. All floss is blood-flavored, do not try to push back against this universal truth for it is absolute
    8. There is no sensation more elating than your dentist actually being impressed at your dental health
    9. Some toothpastes and flosses cause cancer, research which ones and stay away from them
    10. A Colgate tee shirt looks almost exactly like a supreme one and costs a fraction of the price
  • snowe@programming.dev
    1·
    10 months ago

    You are harming your teeth if you brush them that much, that’s why. Overbrushing is just as bad as brushing too little.

  • rgb3x3@beehaw.org
    0·
    10 months ago

    Because it should take you about 2 minutes to brush your teeth.

    If you’re actually brushing for 6 minutes straight, you’re overdoing it and damaging your enamel and gums.

    Brush gently, floss thoroughly.

    • wolf@lemmy.zipOPEnglish
      0·
      10 months ago

      Seriously, I have no idea how one could brush teeth in 2 minutes. I brush gently, use the simple swipe away from the gum technique and just work systematic chewing surfaces, inner surfaces, outer surfaces. Each part gets 2-3 swipes. I had a professional dental cleaner teach this technique to me, and she also told me that she couldn’t finish within 3 minutes. (Do not misunderstand me; I would happily get away with 2 minutes.) BTW flossing is another interesting topic, AFAIK there is no study which can show that flossing helps your teeth/gum. (I floss daily, but I just cannot understand why there is no study which supports this practice.)

  • bouh@lemmy.world
    0·
    10 months ago

    There are two things with brushing your teeth: first, the mechanical action of the brush and the microparticuls in the toothpaste will clean the tooth. Second, the fluorine in the toothpaste will consolidate the enamel of the tooth, but it needs a bit of time to be absorbed.

    This is why it’s important to use real toothpaste and not the natural shit you can do yourself at home.

    So 2-3min is the right time to brush the tooth and allow the fluorine to be absorbed. Some dentists will also tell you to not rinse the mouth, only spit the saliva and paste, I imagine so that fluorine has more time to work.

  • danhakimi@kbin.social
    01·
    10 months ago

    My electric toothbrush works in four 30-second increments. Each 30 seconds is plenty of time for me to cover a quadrant. I slowly go over the outside, inside, top/bottom, gums in each quadrant. Maybe if I was meticulously brushing each tooth one by one, I could see the issue, but that’s not necessary, is it?