Dental Care and Oral Hygiene: Best Practices and Instructions for Your Routine

In short: Dental care is more than just brushing. The goal is to remove plaque and food residues so the number of bacteria stays low — which helps prevent tooth decay, periodontitis and bad breath. Brushing correctly twice a day with a fluoride toothpaste, cleaning between the teeth and cleaning the tongue are the essentials.

Brushing teeth: correct brushing has to be learned

Brushing your teeth properly ensures clean teeth and fresh breath. If you clean your teeth properly every day, you can also effectively help prevent diseases such as caries, gingivitis and periodontitis. In addition to a toothpaste with fluoride, dental floss or interdental brushes should be used daily.

The duration and a systematic approach to brushing are important to keep teeth and gums healthy. Following a few rules helps clean the teeth all around, keep them healthy and avoid injuring the gums.

Why is brushing so important?

Brushing is not only about removing food residues, but especially plaque — a sticky film that forms on your teeth after eating. Plaque is food for tooth-damaging bacteria, the greatest danger for healthy teeth, because their acid formation damages the tooth enamel.

If plaque is not removed thoroughly and regularly, bacterial breeding grounds develop that cause caries and gingivitis. Regular brushing effectively helps prevent these.

The rule of thumb for brushing

1. Brush at least twice a day — ideally three times, after each main meal — for about three minutes each time.
2. Don't overdo it, or the natural protective function of the enamel weakens. Brushing too long and too often can even harm the teeth, because the tooth surfaces and gums need time to regenerate.
3. In the evening, brush especially thoroughly after the last meal. Otherwise bacteria in the plaque have all night to multiply, and reduced night-time saliva flow lets plaque attack the teeth even more effectively.

Don't brush immediately after eating

Everyone knows the saying "after eating — don't forget to brush." But you should not reach for the toothbrush immediately after eating, especially after acidic foods or drinks. Highly acidic fruits such as oranges, kiwis and apples, salads with vinegar dressings or fruit juices produce acids that can weaken tooth enamel. If you brush immediately afterwards, a fine layer of the weakened tooth surface is rubbed off — and over time the enamel attacked by acid is brushed away.

Those with receding gums especially risk damage to the enamel and even the dentin. If you wait a short while, enough saliva forms in the mouth to neutralise the acids.

Dental care — how to brush your teeth properly

There is no single universal rule for brushing, but there are recommended practices for effective, gentle cleaning. As a general rule, avoid brushing side to side or "cross-scrubbing" — it is ineffective, can damage teeth and gums, and the bristles don't reach the interdental spaces properly.

Step by step

Don't press too hard

Be gentle: press only enough to make the bristle ends bend slightly. Excessive pressure promotes receding gums and exposure of tooth necks.

Problem areas in oral hygiene

• Don't let carelessness creep into the daily routine. It's easy to become inattentive and forget risky areas such as the back molars or hard-to-reach wisdom teeth — which quickly become breeding grounds for bacteria and attack sites for caries and gingivitis.
• Brush the difficult areas first: the outer sides in the upper jaw, the inner sides in the lower jaw, the back molars, and so on.
• Then brush the remaining tooth surfaces and the chewing surfaces.
• Pay attention not only to all sides of the tooth, but also to the transitions between tooth and gum, which need care and sensitivity.

Interdental spaces

Brushing always includes cleaning the spaces between the teeth: around 30% of plaque accumulates there, where many germs settle. Left uncleaned, these areas are particularly susceptible to caries, gingivitis and periodontitis — and a toothbrush can only reach so far.

Use an interdental brush daily in addition to the toothbrush, cleaning every space you can reach. If the spaces are very narrow, dental floss is often the best and only way to remove plaque thoroughly. Dental floss is available waxed and unwaxed, with and without fluoride, and with and without flavour. Then brush your teeth as usual.

Fillings, crowns or bridges

Teeth with fillings or dentures such as crowns or bridges are particularly susceptible to caries and gingivitis, because bacteria can colonise the edges. Caries damage can occur hidden from view, especially in crowned teeth, so always ensure good oral hygiene: brush regularly and carefully and clean the interdental spaces, just as with natural teeth.

Tongue cleaning

Cleaning the tongue removes bacterial coatings that promote bad breath and tooth decay. It's generally recommended to clean the tongue with a tongue cleaner preferably three times a week, using a commercially available tongue scraper or brush. Many manual toothbrushes already have a tongue cleaner integrated on the back of the head.

Mouth rinses

Mouth rinses can support dental care, but they are by no means a substitute for brushing. It's worth distinguishing a medical mouth rinse from a mouthwash for everyday dental care.

Medical mouth rinses are usually pharmacy-only. They contain a germ-reducing active ingredient — usually the antiseptic chlorhexidine — which can cause discoloration of the teeth and taste changes. They are used after operations or during periodontitis treatment; they are effective but not suitable for permanent use.

Dental-care chewing gums

Dental-care chewing gums can support teeth by encouraging saliva flow after meals and removing the coarsest plaque along with food residue. They mainly clean the chewing surfaces and are in no way a substitute for a toothbrush. But if brushing isn't possible during the day, chewing a dental-care gum after a meal is better than nothing — a useful supplement.

First and foremost, dental-care chewing gums should be sugar-free. Sugar-free gum is the tooth-friendlier choice, and gums made with xylitol are popular for this reason.

Bottom line

Brush thoroughly morning and evening, use a fluoride toothpaste, and clean the spaces between your teeth and your tongue. Being this conscientious about oral hygiene does a lot to keep your teeth and gums healthy.

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