If you have good dental hygiene what's your routine?

[womaninatightspot]

After a thorough, and much overdue, scale and polish at the dentist today, I am determined to take better care of my teeth. Toothbrushing just doesn't cut it. I do own a waterflosser which I will use more but dentist reckons I need to use toothpicks or floss(teeth are fairly crowded so floss is tricky and not a fan of the tepe brushes) plus waterflosser. Should I use mouthwash as well?

I use tepees every evening plus a bit of flossing. My gums aren't great according to my hygienist, got a telling off at the last appointment.

Floss, brush for three mins using electric toothbrush, switch to regular toothbrush to brush tongue and mouthwash to finish.

I floss and brush in the morning, then brush and use interdental brushes at night.
I do use mouthwash but it’s more to clean my tongue.
Dentist always recommends a power toothbrush, but use a manual as well.

@Ronacorona

I use tepees every evening plus a bit of flossing. My gums aren't great according to my hygienist, got a telling off at the last appointment.

Ah yes I got a telling off today too I know I should floss I feel like a naughty child. Teeth are healthy but gums are suffering but hopefully today has gotten rid of any plaque under gumline and I can have a freshstart.

Electric tooth brush for 3 minutes, floss and tongue scraper- both in morning and evening. When the toothbrush is off I clean around my gums and inside of cheek- so whole mouth area. I have a water flosser but prefer a string floss.

I don’t use mouthwash, want the fluoride from my toothpaste to stay on my teeth, so mouthwash would wash that away which I don’t want!

@Suzi888

Floss, brush for three mins using electric toothbrush, switch to regular toothbrush to brush tongue and mouthwash to finish.

Do you use mouthwash at the end I thought you used it after flossing pre brushing so you didn't wash the fluoride goodness of the toothpaste off?

I've been having remedial training with a very expensive hygienist:

• Floss first, then brush
• Use the interdental sticks
• Don't rinse your mouth after brushing so as to leave some residual fluoride on your teeth and gums
• Don't use mouthwash after brushing for the same reason, either before or at another random time like after lunch
• Electric toothbrush with the round soft (gum care) heads
• Aim brush at an angle so you do your gums as well as your teeth

I've never had a filling so it's more my gums I'm trying to look after.

I’ve always brushed with an electric toothbrush morning and evening and flossed in the evening but the biggest difference I have made is to cut down on sugary crap and not eat between meals. Teeth feel cleaner and now I’ve only needed the dental hygienist once in 3 checkups whereas before I needed it every check up.

it's so individual...
dentist happy with me. no gum disease.
brush with electric toothbrush/flouride toothpaste twice a day. use interdental brush twice a week.

I think most important are that I don't eat snacks and don't drink fizzy drinks or juice.

(have loads of fillings though as didn't use flouride toothpaste as child/teenager but that's a different story)

Try Curaprox brushes. They are magnificent!

I only have 1 filling and I think I'm quite lucky teeth wise. Suspect I've been a bit lazy over lockdown(joys of masks) am going to be good,no more carby snacks and lots of flossing. Have put in an order on amazon for tepe easy toothpicks to see how they work.

@Timide

Try Curaprox brushes. They are magnificent!

The interdental brushes? They look really similar to the tepe ones how are they different?

Do you use an electric toothbrush?

Honestly, that makes a huge difference, especially with the soft heads as another poster mentioned.

I use the floss picks as I find them far easier than string floss - and there's no way I could use the teepee things as my teeth are very close together.

I think a lot of it is luck. I have never had a single filling. The only thing I do is brush twice a day - never miss one! I am just really really lucky! I don’t really drink sugary drinks at all so that may help but ultimately it’s just by chance.

Flossing/interdental brushing is essential. Otherwise you're just not cleaning your teeth properly. Those surfaces are even more important than the others because they get dirtier.

Mouthwash doesn't do anything for your teeth. Use it if you like it, but it's not necessary.

I use interdental brushes and an electric toothbrush for about 2-3 mins at least twice a day.

But I ignore dentist's advice not to rinse. I always rinse with water afterwards. I have no scale at all on my teeth.

OP, google GUM FLOSBRUSH Automatic. It's legitimately amazing, has revolutionised flossing for me.

It's SO much better than the picks. It's big and comfy to hold and has a whole roll of floss in the handle that you press at the back to wind along to a clean bit. The angles are all exactly right and it's so easy to use.

It makes it really quick to floss your whole mouth without getting wrist ache or stabbing yourself with a poky plastic shard...

They used to be quite easy to get hold of but have been a bit scarcer and pricier since Brexit (!) but usually I buy 4 or 5 at once and they last a year. Because there is so much floss in the handle each one lasts AGES. I honestly don't think you'll regret trying it - it's a gamechanger.

FWIW I do floss first, then 3-min timer on the electric toothbrush, then tongue scrape and then mouthwash. All good in the teeth department! Best of luck :)

I brush twice, sometimes three times a day and I also floss.

I can't use floss or teepees (sp?) as my teeth are pretty much too crammed together.

I had a dentist give me the usual telling off, before 'demonstrating' how to do it. He ended up using scissors to cut floss as he couldn't extract it upwards (or downwards) on my teeth. Like I can't, when it's me and my mouth, not him and a dental chair....

I have hopeless teeth anyway, as I'm almost 60 and a child of 'the school dentist' and sweets/ sugar laden drinks or treats every day, as a child.

I have a face like a Cornish tin mine.

To me, the line is drawn around 45/50, now. Prior to that, face full of fillings, younger- a gradual dropping off followed by No Fillings below 40. (In my job, I get to see them!)

TePe brushes, flossing, edge brush, electric toothbrush, morning and evening.

Electric tbrush with original sensodyne morning.
Fluriguard mouthwash middayish.
Silicone teepee and floss, Electric tbrush with original sensodyne Evening.

I regularly get praised for my exemplary dental hygiene by the dentists at the practice I attend; apparently unusual and great for my age (late 40s, 1 filling, good gums and enamel). I don't deserve it, although I love brushing my teeth.
I use a soft-bristled, small-headed narrow hand brush (TePe brand, but actual toothbrush, not inter-dental) and a pea sized blob of Colgate total and brush gently but thoroughly once a day at bedtime, for approx 5 minutes, never within 30 minutes of eating or drinking, avoid acidy foods and drinks. I find that if I brush more frequently, my mouth feels irritated. I floss sporadically. No mouth wash. I chew lots of sugar free gum.
I'm very grateful to have healthy teeth and gums which still look good.

I just use electric toothbrush after breakfast and before bed (and occasionally other times if I feel the need) and floss after breakfast too. I'm lucky to have good teeth and my dentist always says I'm looking after them fine. Never have fizzy/sugary drinks, not eating much sugar at all atm but I do eat fruit.

AM Water flosser with dilute mouth wash/ tepe/ interdental brushes/ electric toothpaste
PM as above plus string flossing/ edge brush plus coconut oil pulling. Xylitol after every drink/ food. Gums still not great,

I brush my teeth at least twice a day for two minutes each time. I also use floss, mouthwash, soft-bristled brush, and fluoride toothpaste.