To think many people massively underestimate three minutes?

[brightwhiteteeth]

In my line of work I assist people with teeth brushing and the number of people who slosh a toothbrush around for less than thirty seconds then think they've brushed their teeth.

My brother does this and his teeth are dreadful.

AIBU to make DCs brush for a designated amount of time, such as for the entire length of a song, to get them used to how long they should actually brush for?

Does he kiss his mother with that mouth?

Two months?! That must feel (and smell!) horrible.

We have a Sonicare toothbrush with its own quadrant timer. I think I was probably underestimating for DS's teeth and overestimating for mine before we started using it - I quite often haven't finished a whole quadrant before it beeps, but when I'm doing DS's teeth the thirty seconds seem like ages.

Well I agree it is boak to think about...

Except that he has really normal teeth. No bad breath (except hangover breath and I'm pretty certain mine is worse). Never a cavity (although as he hasn't been to a dentist he only thinks that because of the lack of pain). As I say slightly darker than me but prob less than you'd think for a heavy coffee drinker and occasional smoker.

He's a grown up (in theory anyway) so as long as it doesn't affect me I'm not going to start nagging him. He just never got into the habit.

I would imagine he has morning, noon and night breath.

If he never goes to the dentist how would he know what condition his teeth are in?

Years and years ago I went to the dentist for the first time in years and needed a crown because I had developed a cavity without realising and the whole tooth was dead. I never felt a single twinge. I go every 6 months religiously now.

2 months? MONTHS??

Fucking grim!

If i get a topic in my head i can get distracted and spend ages brushing my teeth but wouldnt guarantee i'm getting over them all evenly in that time. I do go over them all though.

Why are we the only mammals that do brush out teeth.

What can I say - I'm pretty certain I know what his mouth smells and looks like, and there really isn't a problem.

And you are right about him probably having cavities he doesn't know about. I've told him to go.

He has complex health issues elsewhere and is constantly trying to keep on top of consultant appointments (3 specialists) and just says that if he has no symptoms he doesn't care, he has enough to do in his life as it is.

I know with raw fed cats and dogs (which is supposed to be natural diet for them) the bone content in their diets helps take care of their teeth. Maybe we are supposed to eat bone and without it our teeth need help to get rid of the gunk? Also- lots of commercially fed dogs and cats need their teeth cleaned and get gum disease. Not sure about horses/cattle/pigs etc.

because we eat so much shit refined carbs. and live longer than teeth were intended for originally.

Also- dogs cant buy toothbrushes to clean their teeth

It's funny as I had a mini lecture from my dentist yesterday and he explained how to brush properly. I am 33 and it was a REVELATION. I've been doing it wrong my whole life.

Chrome what did he say?

ICanSeeTheSun - I would vomit if I kept going for a minute. hence I stop when I gag at about 30 seconds. I've not heard of many other people like this.

Any idea what causes it?

Strangely I get a longer brushing time/less gagging when I use the "fancy" toothbrushes with the bigger flat head like THIS

2 months?? Blerk!

You can get used to bad smells,I can't believe his breath isn't bad! I do believe you when you say you can't smell it though.

He has no idea if he has healthy teeth or not, I'd be very surprised if he doesn't need some work.

meh I do mine for between 1-2 mins twice a day, don't floss and certainly don't do it for 10 mins

I have no fillings so I must be doing something right

I'm sure my sonicare only times 2 minutes.

If I'm on the toilet a bit sleepy I can brush longer though. I've found the waterpik to be pretty effective too (blasts the bits left with disclosing tablets) that was a great MN recommendation.

My Swiss dentist keeps putting FB recommendations to change your brushes every month. He recommends writing the sell by date on the brush with a Sharpie.

I think I probably change toothbrushes every 4-6 weeks.

I thought it was 2 minutes, too. My sonic toothbrush has a timer that goes off every 30 seconds, so you can brush each quadrant of your mouth for 30 seconds, 2 minutes total.