Why is it important to brush your teeth? (2023)

Why is it important to brush your teeth?

Taking care of your teeth helps prevent cavities and gum disease. Brushing and flossing properly can prevent plaque (pronounced: plak), a clear film of bacteria that sticks to your teeth.

Brushing Your Teeth

It is important to brush your teeth to prevent gum disease. Refusal to brush one's teeth for several days can lead to the onset of gum disease. Brushing ensures the removal of plaque, which is the primary cause for tooth decay and gum disease; it also arrests the build-up of any plaque formation.

There's a fascinating link between your oral hygiene and heart disease risk, a new study shows. A new study published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology found that people who brushed their teeth three times per day had a lower risk of developing certain heart problems.

To prevent cavities, you need to remove plaque. To do this, brush your teeth twice a day and floss at least once a day. Brushing also stimulates the gums, which helps to keep them healthy and prevent gum disease. Brushing and flossing are the most important things that you can do to keep your teeth and gums healthy.

It is important to brush for the full two minutes so that you can be sure you have removed any food and plaque that has built up on your teeth since your last brushing. The bacteria in plaque feed on the sugars found in our food, so removing both food and plaque is imperative for preventing tartar buildup.

Brushing at night can help clear out these tiny particles of food from your mouth. If you maintain a brushing practice every night, it prevents the build-up of plaque in the long run. Plaque is the yellow substance that settles in your teeth and makes them look dirty.

Brushing twice daily helps prevent tartar buildup.

When you brush twice a day, plaque can be removed before it hardens into position. While plaque is still soft, it can easily be brushed and flossed away. However, once it hardens, it remains in place until it is scraped away at your next dental cleaning.

In fact, most experts say that even with just once-a-day brushing, it is already enough to keep bacteria and cavities at bay. Yes, you read it right. Brushing your teeth once a day is enough to maintain good oral health if it is done correctly.

Brushing your teeth twice a day will ensure that this bad bacteria is destroyed or removed. If you brush your teeth in the morning and go the entire day without brushing again, the build-up of bacteria will start damaging the enamel of your tooth and weaken their gums and roots, allowing decaying to occur.

How to Brush Your Teeth Animation MCM - YouTube

When we should brush your teeth?

Waiting 30 minutes to an hour after eating to brush your teeth is the best way to ensure that you're protecting your teeth and not tampering with your enamel. The American Dental Association recommends you wait 60 minutes after eating before you brush, especially after having acidic foods.

You should refrain from brushing more than three times a day, because brushing too often will wear down the enamel of your teeth. You must brush at least twice, but not more than three times a day.

Twice is enough for most people, but three times won't hurt!

We recommend brushing your teeth at least twice a day: once in the morning (i.e. around 30 minutes after breakfast), and once before bed! But if you want to go for three, that's no issue, just as long as you don't brush too hard or too soon after eating!

Although this is not always a bad thing, when you start brushing too much or for too long, you can ultimately damage your teeth. Brushing more than three times a day, and for longer than 2 minutes, can sometimes lead to your tooth enamel wearing down as well as cause damage to your gums.

When you don't brush regularly, plaque builds up on teeth, can harden into tartar, and provide a nice environment for bacteria to thrive. These bacteria can work their way into your gums and cause an infection.

Known as “toothbrush abrasion,” overbrushing can lead to sensitive teeth and receding gums. When you brush too hard, you can wear down the outer layer of your teeth. Lost enamel means less protective coating for your teeth, which can cause your teeth to become sensitive to hot and cold.

Habits and brushing

If your brushing habits are not up to scratch, this can make any stains or developing yellow teeth worse. Brushing twice a day is a minimum, but you have to make sure that you're cleaning all your teeth to avoid issues.

Teeth ultimately turn yellow as you get older, when enamel wears away from chewing and exposure to acids from food and drink. Most teeth turn yellow as this enamel thins with age, but some take on a grayish shade when mixed with a lasting food stain.

If you only brush your teeth once a day, then that plaque and bacteria will accumulate in your mouth. This can lead to all sorts of problems, from bad breath to cavities to gum disease. Sure, you're still brushing your teeth.

How can we protect our teeth?

As it turns out, cleaning and the feeling of being clean is good for your body. When you feel clean, your brain gets a jump start by produce endorphins that make you feel good. Endorphin production can also make you feel less stressed and in general can put you in a better mood.

To be safe, Mouth Healthy by the American Dental Association suggests that if you feel like you need to brush your teeth after eating or drinking something, wait at least 60 minutes. This gives your saliva a chance to naturally wash away food particles, so your mouth returns to its proper pH level.

In spite of our obsession with whiter teeth, most healthy teeth tend to have a light yellow hue. The outer layer of your teeth – the enamel – is a blue-white color. The middle layer – the dentin – is a thick tissue with a slightly yellow tinge.

Brushing your teeth twice a day will ensure that this bad bacteria is destroyed or removed. If you brush your teeth in the morning and go the entire day without brushing again, the build-up of bacteria will start damaging the enamel of your tooth and weaken their gums and roots, allowing decaying to occur.

When you don't brush regularly, plaque builds up on teeth, can harden into tartar, and provide a nice environment for bacteria to thrive. These bacteria can work their way into your gums and cause an infection.

In fact, most experts say that even with just once-a-day brushing, it is already enough to keep bacteria and cavities at bay. Yes, you read it right. Brushing your teeth once a day is enough to maintain good oral health if it is done correctly.

While it's optimal to brush your teeth both in the morning when you wake up and at night before you go to bed, brushing at night is actually more important. During the day, the foods you eat leave particles and debris on your teeth that feed bacteria.

Waiting 30 minutes to an hour after eating to brush your teeth is the best way to ensure that you're protecting your teeth and not tampering with your enamel. The American Dental Association recommends you wait 60 minutes after eating before you brush, especially after having acidic foods.

How do you keep your teeth healthy without brushing?

Beverages and foods

Frequently drinking wine, tea, or coffee and eating certain staining foods affects the shade of your tooth enamel. These foods and beverages leave color particles on your tooth's surface that penetrate your tooth enamel over time, leaving you with yellow or dull-looking teeth.

Known as “toothbrush abrasion,” overbrushing can lead to sensitive teeth and receding gums. When you brush too hard, you can wear down the outer layer of your teeth. Lost enamel means less protective coating for your teeth, which can cause your teeth to become sensitive to hot and cold.