There are remarkable benefits to basic oral hygiene habits. By just brushing twice daily, you are giving yourself a head start on getting a lifetime of use out of your natural teeth, and a pain-free one, at that. Good oral health extends itself to your entire quality of life, and links have been shown to exist between the health of your teeth, and that of your heart and other organs, too.

But that doesn’t mean that there isn’t any room to improve. There is one habit that we can, and should, reform, to get the very most out of our twice-daily brush. We need to stop rinsing with water.

You read that right.

As you most likely know, your toothpaste is enriched with fluoride. This stuff is the key ingredient to the process whereby your enamel get remineralised – in layman’s terms, their defence gets shored up, after a day of abuse. However, this stuff can’t do its job when it is washed out and spat down the sink.

After you have brushed, your fluoride toothpaste will be left over in a ‘paste’ form, coating your teeth. It needs to stay firmly in place if it is to do its job. By all means, spit out the excess – but leave that paste in place. Your teeth will thank you for it.

But, you ask, who wants to have a gritty mouth all day? The answer is twofold. First, you are probably using entirely too much toothpaste. A blob the size of a pea is more than enough. That’s a lot less product to spit out, and it means that the grittiness that you do notice – after you have spit – will go away in a few minutes, washed away by your saliva. It does no harm if ingested in these small quantities.

Secondly, spit with gusto, using your natural saliva to help gather up the excess toothpaste. But skip the rinse. Give it a try – you will be happy that you did!

At No Gaps Dental, we provide Penrith and Liverpool with a dental clinic for the entire family. We bulk bill and do so under the CDBS, to ensure that everyone gets the care that they need. Contact us today to find out more, and book your appointment.