how long do you brush your teeth?

[anxiousgirl]

Pretty sure I heard my ortho say to a newly braced patient at my last appt to brush 6 mins - 3 mins top and 3 mins bottom.
Seems like ages but makes sense to get everywhere clean. Must admit i dont brush for that long.

[UCHIHA]

Are brushes with rotating action okay?

thanks

[TinySmiley]

this is a great thread because i have often wondered how long you should brush with braces. I take a long time to complete my daily routine 3 times a day and I feel like I am always in the bathroom brushing my teeth!

[justgotbracessss]

3 mins , 3 times a day :D

[Blackbeltfundraiser]

Waterpik Ultra (until it runs out of water) and Sonicare quad. I know the Sonicare goes for 2 minutes -- 30 seconds each section.

Pat (48, braces since June 2011)

[aidenk]

It takes me 4 four minutes or so to brush, and then another 5 minutes to floss thoroughly. Such a pain! I will never complain about having to floss after having my braces off again.

[sirwired]

This is a great topic:

My routine:

Every time solid food touches my teeth: Flush-n-brush
- Water swish
- Oral Irrigator: WaterPik if I'm home, the wonderul portable Pana-ending-in-sonic (to evade some strange anti-spam measure here) portable when I'm not. This flushes the major chunky stuff down the drain. On the WaterPik, I use the ortho tip. (A small little brush.)
- Brush w/ Toothpaste: (Colgate Sensitive at the moment.) Oral-B when I'm home, manual when I'm not. I brush the face, followed by a round down into the wires and a round up into the wires. I use circular strokes to make sure the bristles scrub all the sides of the bracket, so I can skip the step with the Proxabrush. If I'm at home, it's about two minutes with an Oral-B "sensitive" head (a ring with a few tufts at the center) and another minute with a "Power Tip" which is just a three-tuft head used for tight spaces. That I bounce along the archwires held at about 60 degrees. One pass upwards and another pass downwards. I then use it on those rear molars I can't get at well any other way.
- Listerine

(If it was just liquid calories, I skip the irrigation and Listerine.)

Every evening: Supplement the above with:
A round with the WaterPik regular irrigator tip to massage the gums.
A pass against the gumline with the toothbrush. (Don't want to do that too many times a day, and underneath the gumline won't be made any worse with braces anyway.)
Finish up with ACT instead of Listerine.
A round of flossing w/ Glide Threader

Right now, each round is ALSO supplemented with a rinse with either Rincinol or 10% Carbamide Peroxide drops until my cheeks finish healing.

[sirwired]

Are brushes with rotating action okay?

thanks

Yes. As with any brush (electric or manual), don't go to town with the pressure; let the brush do the work. You are removing a soft, toothpaste-soluble biofilm off your teeth; not removing layers of burnt grease from your dishes.

[midnight]

I haven't timed how long i'm taking but it feels like i'm in the bathroom for about 15 mins each time! Rinse mouth, brush teeth for about 2mins i guess, then using the interdental brushes, then flossing, then mouthwash. Going to have to have a look at this water pik thing that i've read about on here too but i couldn't see one in the shops earlier.

Also, sorry if this is a silly question, but on the subject of brushing teeth etc... i've noticed that the Fluorigard/Boots Ortho mouthwash it says to use it once per day only. Is there a reason this mouthwash shouldn't be used twice a day?

[crooked rory]

I go for 2 minutes on an electric toothbrush, twice a day. Apparently I am not doing good enough though, since at my dental cleaning yesterday, I had a lot of tartar building up on the back of my teeth. I think I need to floss more frequently, and brush longer. I am going back in 3 months for another cleaning, so I hope I find out I improved

[sirwired]

Also, sorry if this is a silly question, but on the subject of brushing teeth etc... i've noticed that the Fluorigard/Boots Ortho mouthwash it says to use it once per day only. Is there a reason this mouthwash shouldn't be used twice a day?

Non-prescription mouthwashes have a maximum allowed fluoride content and maximum dosage schedule to keep you from applying too much fluoride without consultation with a dentist. Fluoride, if used in truly excessive amounts, can eventually cause health issues.

If your conscientious oral care program (combined with a once-a-day oral fluoride rinse) wards off decalcification, additional fluoride use is simply not necessary.

For myself, I use generic Listerine after meals, and then fluoride rinse at bedtime. But if you want to use a fluoride rinse twice a day, check around more. I know here in the US, the smaller bottles of ACT (the leading fluoride rinse here) are once-a-day, while the larger bottles are twice-a-day rinses (with a lower fluoride concentration, of course.)

[fabricsmile]

I got hard white plains on my back teeths.after the ortognathic surgery I didnt give my best to clean and even with floss ı cant seem to make it work.Bleedings start when I floss in between like in the beginning of the braces.what should ı do to make it right again?

[metalsmile]

2 minutes, 3 or 4 times a day.

[sirwired]

I got hard white plains on my back teeths.after the ortognathic surgery I didnt give my best to clean and even with floss ı cant seem to make it work.Bleedings start when I floss in between like in the beginning of the braces.what should ı do to make it right again?

It sounds like you have gingivitis. You just need to keep at it, gently flossing every day; your gums should heal in about a week or so.

I highly recommend Glide, if you aren't already using it; it really slides between your teeth if they are tight. Glide also comes in a version with threaders already on the end; I use it, and it's great.

[Jano]

what is a Waterpik please Can anyone recommend a website to get these from in Australia ? Are they plug in or battery ? Portable or something that has to be done over a sink ? ALso I havent seen the brand Glide for floss in Australia , I just have awful floss that cuts the side of my lips and shreds and gets stuck all over the place .