Dental health, best toothpastes and mouthwashes and all that malarkey

[Unprune]

Which do you find (or have you been advised) is the best toothpaste and mouthwash?

What do you do, over and above 'brush twice a day' to keep your mouth and teeth healthy?

This prompted by a conversation with a Canadian friend who has nearly perfect teeth. She is vaguely horrified that we were told as children just to brush twice a day. And that we didn't seem to have dental floss in the 70s. (Well, I did live in the sticks. Maybe you had it in London? )

I floss every morning (am always too tired to do it at night) then use a manual toothbrush - electric ones always seem to hurt my gums. Then I use a tiny little toothbrush to clean my wisdom teeth and finally use a mouthwash, normal if everything is in order, corsodyl if I have any gum inflammation.
I do not brush my teeth after lunch but I work with an few Brazilian women who are horrified at this! They all brush their teeth any time they eat anything.

I floss twice a day. Brush twice a day, sometimes again after lunch if I remember. Normal toothpaste. Normal toothbrush. Electric brushing if I can be bothered. I only use short courses of mouthwashes if my gums are a problem.

I use an electric brush twice a day with a whitening toothpaste (1450pp fluoride). I use mouthwash if I have had strong smelling food the night before e.g. curry, chilli, etc. I floss if I feel I have food stuck in my teeth. If you brush too soon after eating you can cause your teeth to erode so brushing soon after lunch can harm rather than help your teeth

No way Seona really?! I will feel a lot better now when I see my colleagues doing their religious post-lunch brushing!

brushing with electric toothbrush and floride toothpaste mornings (after breakfast) and just before bed.
flossing about once a week.
mouthwash only when I have a cold/sore throat.
if I have a lot of garlic or other strong flavours in the evening, drinking a yoghurt drink and brushing an hour or so afterwards is more effective than mouthwash.
a dentist once told me that brushing more than twice a day is not good, because you want to keep the good bacteria healthy.

flossing every day would probably ideal but I can*t be arsed.

Electric toothbrush, with a built in timer.
I hate flossing- really HATE it. So dont bother. Hence bleeding gums

I would prefer dentures to be honest. or Katie Price plastic choppers

from the british dental health foundation

Should I brush my teeth after every meal?

It is important that you brush twice a day with a toothpaste containing fluoride. The best times are before breakfast and last thing at night before you go to bed.

Eating and drinking naturally weakens the enamel on your teeth, and brushing straight afterwards can cause tiny particles of enamel to be brushed away. It is best not to brush your teeth until at least one hour after eating.

It is especially important to brush before bed. This is because the flow of saliva, which is the mouth?s own cleaning system, slows down during the night and this leaves the mouth more at risk from decay.

floss 2xday, electric toothbrush, use the small tepe interdental brushes after cleaning at night. Seems to keep the gums healthy & entist & hygienist happy.

Dentist not entist!

also no special toothpaste or mouthwash.

I have just bought a posh Sonic toothbrush (i used a normal electric one before)and it's fantastic.It has a 2 minute timer on it.

I floss about twice a week although the dentist said I should do it every day.I also now use a a mouthwash,one that is alcohol free.

As for toothpaste I buy whatever is on offer.

You'll probably find that your Canadian friends teeth are not naturally perfect and that a hell of a lot of money has been spent on teeth whitening etc.

I went on holiday recently and we had a Canadian tour guide. We all laughed at her as we almost needed sunglasses to shield us from the glare from her unnaturally white teeth.