Brushing & Flossing – Children's Dental World

Brushing

Effective and thorough tooth brushing is an essential part of keeping your teeth clean & healthy! Brushing your teeth removes plaque and food particles from the tooth surface. There are many acceptable tooth brushing methods, here is one effective way:


1. Place the toothbrush at 45-degree angle to the gums.	2. Gently move the brush back and forth in short (tooth-wide) strokes .	3. Brush the inner (tongue side) and outer tooth surfaces.

4. Brush the chewing surfaces.	5. Brush the inside of the front teeth.	6. Brush your tongue too!

Flossing

Even if you brush your teeth every day, decay-causing bacteria still linger between teeth where the toothbrush bristles can’t reach. One way to remove hidden plaque is with dental floss. Flossing removes plaque and food particles between teeth. Here is one effective flossing technique:


1. Break off about 18 inches of floss and wind most of it around one of your fingers.	2. Wind the remaining floss around the same finger of the other hand.	3. Hold the floss tightly between your thumb and forefingers, with about an inch of floss between them.

4. Use a gentle rubbing motion to guide the floss between your teeth. Do not jerk or snap the floss into your gums.	5. When you reach the gum line, curve it into a “C” shape against one tooth.	6. Gently slide it into the space between the gum and tooth until you feel resistance. Gently rub the side of the tooth moving away from the gum.