Brushing Teeth Too Hard?
Here in our dental office, we see many people who have damaged their teeth and gums by brushing teeth too hard. We see as much as two out of three patients that brush too hard. A hard, stiff toothbrush and an overzealous brusher can cause major dental issues over time. That include gum disease. We tell patients every day, “Stop brushing your teeth too hard”.
People have a tendency to think that if the brush really hard that they will have a cleaner mouth. But the fact is that overzealous brushing can have a significant negative impact on periodontal tissues and bones that support your teeth.
We recommend a soft toothbrush that features more rounded bristles that are much less abrasive to the teeth. It is this abrasiveness that will cause damage to the enamel, tissue, and bone. It is important not to “scrub the teeth with a horizontal back and forth motion, but rather, start at the gum line then angle your toothbrush at a 45-degree angle. You will want to brush both the teeth and the gums at the same time. Push just enough to get the toothbrush bristles under the gum line but avoid pushing so hard as to allow the bristles to flair out. We also advise our patients to limit the amount of toothpaste to the size of a pea as toothpaste is somewhat abrasive. We see many people who tell us that they fill the brush up with paste and that is way too much toothpaste.
We want you to brush longer not harder. In order to properly remove plaque from your mouth, it requires at least 2 to 5 minutes of brushing at least 2 times a day. We see that most people are brushing for about a minute, so our message is to stop brushing teeth too hard and brush longer.