4 Reasons You Are Brushing Your Teeth Wrongly: The Great Brushing Debate
- opeobanjo
- Sep 16
- 4 min read
There's a tiny, yet significant part of our day, and that's brushing our teeth. Maybe you brush only once in the morning or maybe you're diligent and you brush twice in a day, but the fact remains that this simple act remains a universal part of every one of us, and we often overlook the actual intricacies of it.
I know most people think brushing your teeth is simple, well…I mean, it is simple, or at least it should be. But, what if you, yes YOU, WHAT IF YOU ARE DOING IT COMPLETELY WRONG? That would be surprising, wouldn't it? So, let's dive in.
The goal of brushing isn't to polish your teeth until they shine; it's to gently disrupt and remove a sticky, invisible film of bacteria called plaque. This plaque is the villain of our story. It loves to hang in between your teeth and where your teeth meet your gums (the gum line), and if left unchecked, it can lead to having mouth odour, cavities in your teeth, gum inflammation (gingivitis), and more serious gum disease.
TECHNIQUE MATTERS MORE THAN TIME, FORCE, AND HARD BRUSHES
Are you a believer of hard scrubbing means cleaner teeth? A lot of people seem to believe so. Well, IT IS WRONG! - saying it is wrong is even an understatement, it is a taboo which you should never! ever!! ever!!! do. Let me tell you why, and to do this, let’s imagine a scenario:
Imagine you want to polish a piece of wood, and you have a sandpaper in hand. There are 4 things that will either make that piece of wood super smooth or grinded down - the roughness of the sandpaper, the amount of force you use, how much time you spend, and your technique to it. If you use a sandpaper that's too rough or use too much force or spend too much, all coupled with the wrong technique, you end up destroying that piece of wood instead of polishing it.
Using that example, the teeth and gums are the same, hard scrubbing your teeth wears down your teeth and scrapes away your gum line (what we call Cervical Abrasion for the teeth, and Gingival Recession for the gums). What this means is, using a hard toothbrush is bad, using too much force to brush is bad, spending too much time is also bad, and the biggest part is that brushing with the wrong technique just makes it all a lot worse.
I have mentioned “technique”, what exactly does that mean? Yes, many of us just brush the way we know how from our childhood, or from what we've seen on tv. But brushing the right way means moving your brush around your teeth and gums in the correct pattern, and we are going to talk about that now.
Although, you should know these little things before you master the technique:
Always use a soft-textured toothbrush or a medium-textured toothbrush.
Brush your teeth under 5 minutes but more than 2 minutes.
Your grip strength should be less than the strength of holding your pen to write.
WHY SOFT IS SUPERIOR
I did say that you should use a soft toothbrush, and here's why.
They are gentle on the teeth and gums. Soft toothbrushes won't scrape away your teeth or your gums, they are gentle while being very effective in cleaning your teeth.
Soft toothbrushes are flexible. This allows them to go in between your teeth properly to sweep out the debris that have accumulated in between your teeth.
They are absolutely comfortable. They guarantee that you will rarely have any accidental injuries while brushing your teeth unlike hard brushes that can bruise your mouth.
THE REAL TECHNIQUE
Now for the right way to brush, we call this "The Modified Bass technique". Here's your step-by-step guide:
Relax your bite. Keep a small gap between your upper and lower teeth. Do not clench.
Work in sections. Brush the upper teeth and lower teeth separately. No “crossing over.”
The magic angle. Hold the brush at a 45-degree angle toward the gum line.
Tiny moves, big results. Use gentle, short, vibrating or circular motions. No harsh scrubbing.
Sweep it away. Roll or sweep the bristles away from the gums after vibrating.
Cover all surfaces:
Outer (the part you show off when you smile).
Inner (the often-forgotten tongue-side of your teeth).
Chewing surfaces (where you chew your food on).
COMMON BRUSHING BLUNDERS
The "Scrubber": You attack your teeth with the force of a pressure washer. Remember, plaque is soft and sticky. You only need to be gentle and precise. Let the bristles do the work, not your muscles.
The "Slider": Brushing horizontally with side-to-side strokes. This just contributes to gum recession and wears down your enamel causing notches in your teeth, and it even misses plaque at the gumline.
The "Speed Racer": Rushing through in 30 seconds flat. Your teeth deserve more love than that! You should spend at least 2 minutes.
The "Gum Ignorer": You focus only on the bright, white chewing surfaces of the teeth and completely forget about the area where teeth and gums meet. This is like washing your car but leaving the wheels covered in mud.
WHAT'S NEXT
Now you know how to brush your teeth the proper way. You might fumble here and there trying to get it right, but as they say, practice makes perfect, and I know you can do this.
Pro tip: Don't try to look for that feeling you get when you use a hard brush - feels like you just scrubbed away all the generations of bacteria from your teeth. That just means you're overbrushing!
So, where do we go from here? Well…. This is just one part of your whole oral hygiene, stick with me as we explore how to keep your oral hygiene good, the dos and don'ts, and all the dental myths.
And if you want to know exactly the consequences of hard brushes, cervical abrasion and gingival recession, then stay tuned! See you in the next post.
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