Geezus. I’ve been meaning to write in this thing for the longest time. I guess something is better than nothing so here goes:

I’ve been brushing my teeth incorrectly for most of my life. So how did I brush my teeth? I brushed them as my dentist told me when I was a kid, small circles with the brush perpendicular to your teeth. Apparently, that method is for children and people who don’t have good motor skills. There’s a slightly more technical way of brushing for adults.

Before I tell you it, here’s a basic review: Bacteria in your mouth form a structure called plaque. They eat sugar and poop out acid. This acid eats up the tooth and causes cavities. The only way to get rid of this plaque is by physical disruption of the plaque and this is done by good old fashioned brushing.

There are two steps to brushing properly: Brush at 45 degrees and vibrate.
1. Most of your plaque builds up around your gums. Therefore, you have to angle the toothbrush at a 45 degree angle to your teeth (not 90 degrees) so that the bristles scrub along your gum line.
Side note: Because you are brushing up against your gums, you have to use a soft bristle toothbrush. If you use a hard toothbrush and do this, your gums will get damaged and they will recede with time.

2. Brushing should be done as a vibration motion. Basically shake the toothbrush back and forth along 2 teeth at a time. You should also vibrate starting at the gum line and go down to the tip of the tooth.

It’s crazy how I didn’t learn how to brush my teeth properly until I went to dental school… I was quite appalled when I realized this. This says something about our education system…

An interesting thing I also learned is that toothpaste doesn’t do much in terms of cleaning your teeth. You can brush your teeth without toothpaste and you’d be fine. Brushing physically removes all the plaque (which I look at as a thin biofilm) and that is all you need to do. Toothpaste is simply a paste of fluoride for your teeth. Fluoride is good because it strengthens your teeth, but our tap water also has fluoride so you're probably getting enough from that. You may have had fluoride treatments done by your dentist when you were a child (remember biting down on the foam mouthpiece with paste/gel inside?).

One last thing is that you don’t have to press that hard when you brush your teeth. If you think you’re brushing too hard, try holding the brush like a pen with the brushhead at the tip and then brush your teeth. You won’t be able to generate as much pressure this way.

So I’ve been meaning to share these things ever since I learned them in the beginning of dental school but have been pushing it off till now. Hope it helps.

ADD-ON: I wanted to say how electric toothbrushes are more efficient at cleaning your teeth. The result is that you don't have to brush for as long which saves you time! Oh by the way, the recommended amount of time for brushing your teeth is 2 whole minutes. I bet you don't come close. I know I didn't.