I am a bit obsessed with my teeth. My friends and family make fun of me for how particular I am when it comes to the general care of my teeth. I wasn't always this weird about my teeth, the obsession started when I was 22. I got braces when I was 22 (I have always been a bit of a late bloomer). When I got braces, I got the clear ceramic ones put on. My sister was getting married a few months after I got my braces put on and my mom didn't want me to have a mouth full of metal for the wedding pictures. Getting my braces put on was so beyond painful. I had to have a palate expander put on as well, which sucked really really really bad. Anyway, so having the clear braces made me very aware of getting things caught in my teeth, so I began brushing a lot during the day. When I had my braces on, I was brushing about 12 times a day, obsessive right?
I got my braces off when I was 24, and the obsessiveness continued. I have since cut back on how many times a day I brush, but I have increased my routine of how I brush. I had gum surgery two years ago, since that surgery I've had to make minor adjustments to my routine. Today happen to be one of those do everything in the brushing routine day. As I was pre-brushing and pre-rinsing and actually brushing and flossing and post rinsing, I decided to time how long it takes me to brush my teeth in the morning. Roughly 11 minutes. Is that crazy? Probably. This is my breakdown of my brushing routine:
1) With a baby soft bristle toothbrush (mine is Hello Kitty), warm up the bristles with hot water, apply toothpaste, warm up the toothpaste with hot water, with one hand lift upper lip and brush the upper, outer part of the gums with slow circular motions for one minute. Rinse toothbrush, apply toothpaste, warm toothpaste and while holding down lower lip, brush lower outer part of gums in slow circular upward motion for one minute. Rinse mouth and brush with warm water.
2) Rinse mouth for one minute with PLAX pre-brushing plaque remover rinse. The directions say 30 seconds, but I like to make sure the PLAX works to the max, plus the freak in me thinks swishing longer helps me with flossing. Whatever. Spit out rinse.
3) Floss upper and lower teeth starting on the upper left side of the mouth and moving to the right. Once done with the upper, move on to the lower teeth also starting on the left. After flossing the lower, move back to the upper part of the mouth and repeat flossing the upper and then moving to the lower. After I floss twice with regular floss I use threader floss (a piece of floss with a semi-stiff piece of plastic to help guide through braces and bridge work) and starting on the left, I floss my lower front teeth which have a permanent retainer cemented in. I have to be extra careful around the retainer area, because that's where I had my gum surgery. It's very important to keep plaque out of the area. Flossing can take me anywhere from 1-2 minutes, it depends if I'm in the mood to floss After flossing, rinse with warm water.
4) Brushing. I have been searching high and low for years to find the perfect toothbrush. I think I found it. Oral-B Vitality. It's awesome. It's a rechargeable and really gives your teeth a clean feeling. I love it.
This is the best part of the tooth brushing routine. I have the brush attachment that has semi-hard pieces of plastic around it to help reach parts of the teeth that may not get super clean while flossing. It's a great feeling. My toothbrush has a timer on it. So when brushing my teeth, I brush them for a total of five minutes. 2 1/2 minutes brushing on the top and 2 1/2 minutes brushing the bottom. Such a great feeling I get when I am done brushing my teeth. After brushing, rinse with warm water.
5) Fluoride Rinse. After brushing for 5 minutes, I use a tooth strengthening fluoride rinse. I swish the fluoride rinse for one minute and then spit. The important thing when using the fluoride rinse is to not eat at least 30 minutes after rinsing.
So there you go. 11 minutes of my everyday explained in 5 easy steps. Toothbrushes are very important to me. I do have a collection of toothbrushes used for different brushing jobs. Some I use just on the gums, others I use in certain parts of my mouth. I believe I have about 10 toothbrushes I rotate between. I also have 4 types of toothpastes I use for different brushing jobs, along with 4 types of mouthwash or pre-brushing rinses to use as needed. Since floss is a big deal, I rotate through 5 or 6 different types of dental floss, again used for different flossing jobs.
Call me obsessive or crazy or weird, I've been called a lot worse. I like brushing my teeth. I love the feeling of clean. Try my routine someday. Let me know how you like it
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I, too, like to brush my teeth, just not quite to this extent. On a given day I can usually be found with a toothbrush and toothpaste in my purse, and I won't leave the house until I brush my teeth.
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