Take it Easy on Your Gums

Child brushing their teeth the right way.

Brushing your teeth needs to be done just right in order for it to benefit your mouth and help reduce problems found during a dental cleaning. Many people think that the harder that they brush, the better job they will do to clean their teeth. The opposite is actually true. The harder that you brush your teeth, the worse it is on your gums and even on your enamel. Your focus should not be on how vigorous you brush, but the length of time you take to brush your teeth.

Electric or Manual Brush

Whether you use an electric or manual toothbrush, there does not need to be a lot of pressure. How can you tell if you are brushing too hard? With a manual toothbrush, you should not be able to see the bristles all spread out over your teeth, this means that you are pressing down too hard. Instead, use light pressure with your brush at a 45 degree angle, with the bristles at the gumline. Use light, circular strokes on the front and tongue sides of the teeth. On the inside of the front teeth point the head of the brush down at the gumline and use light, circular strokes as well.

Time It

The American Dental Association recommends that we brush our teeth for two minutes at a time, two times a day. If you are able to brush your teeth after every meal, it will be even better for your teeth and gums, but remember that there is such a thing as brushing too much. Brushing your teeth more than three times a day could cause more issues than it helps, putting your gums at risk for bleeding and could even expose the roots of your tooth, putting it at risk for sensitivity or gum recession.