There are toothbrushes with soft, medium, and hard bristles. Brushes with diamond shaped heads, brushes in a rectangle, brushes that fold or bend, brushes with bristles that go up and down, brushes with blue bristle stripes. There are brushes with a curved head and brushes with extra long bristles at the end. There are brushes with an easy grip on the handle and brushes that are electric.
I’m fairly certain there’s one that cures cancer and breastfeeds a baby. Honestly now, is there any brush that’s better than another and why?
Feel free to tell me what kind you have, but this is a GQ. I want to know why one brush is better than another? Why does there seem to be so much toothbrush R&D?
Having spent far too much time in the dentist’s chair over the last year or two, I have gotten many lectures on toothbrushes and toothbrushing. Here’s what I have been told by my dentists (who, BTW, are teachers at the #1 dental school in the world).
Always use a soft brush. Do not brush too hard, and always use a circular motion. Hard brushes and overly-vigorous or linear brushing will actually wear your teeth down prematurely.
Use a small or medium brush, you’d have to be huge to need a large brush. It just won’t fit around the corners in the back of your mouth.
Large amounts of toothpaste are unnecessary, just use a dab about the size of a pea.
It is my personal opinion is that the finest toothbrush in the world is the OralB Textured Bristle toothbrush. The textured bristles scrub along the whole length of the brush, not just the tip. It is much more effective than any other toothbrush, I tried them all and had continually lousy dental checkups until I switched to the textured bristle kind.
I think this is because hard brushes can damage the gums, exposing the unprotected root of the teeth. At least that’s what my dentist says is going on with my teeth. I switched to the softest brushes I can find.