Maintaining good oral hygiene is crucial, but you could be unknowingly making significant errors in your routine. While it’s common knowledge that brushing teeth twice daily and flossing regularly is vital for dental health, following these steps might not be enough.
With today marking National Dentists Day (March 6th), a dental hygienist has sparked interest by suggesting that the sequence many of us practice is incorrect and compromises our dental cleanliness. Krysta Ambruson went viral on TikTok after outlining what she claims to be the “correct order” in caring for our teeth and gums.
Surprisingly, her recommended approach varies significantly from the usual routine, even introducing steps that many people habitually omit. Her advice focused on the ideal nighttime dental regimen, but she later indicated that the morning procedures should mirror these as well.
The standard of brushing for two minutes, followed by flossing and concluding with mouthwash, is not actually the best way to go about it. According to her guidance, we shouldn’t be reaching for the toothbrush at the initial stage.
The dental hygienist suggests that if you’re into oil pulling, make it the first port of call in your oral hygiene routine. Swishing edible oil around the mouth from five to 20 minutes is said to whiten teeth and enhance dental health, although science hasn’t fully backed these claims.
If oil pulling isn’t part of your regimen, proceed directly to step two, which involves tongue scraping. According to Krysta, this task doesn’t require a bi-daily commitment but should be conducted “at least once” a day; if you can only do it once, doing it in the morning is deemed even more crucial than in the evening.
Moving on from tongue scraping, the next step is flossing. Krysta champions a combination of traditional tape flossing and water flossing as the gold standard, yet she acknowledges that using only one method is permissible due to accessibility. She further underscores the technique of “wrapping the floss around each side” of every tooth for effective cleaning.
Post-flossing, mouthwash becomes the next essential action before finally arriving at brushing. Krysta stresses a thorough two-minute brush of the teeth as the final move in her detailed oral hygiene sequence. Crucially, she refrains from rinsing her mouth after brushing.
The reaction to the post has been notable, with many followers lauding Krysta’s pointers and sharing their surprise about their incorrect order of dental care practices prior to her advice.
One individual was taken aback, commenting: “Wait, tongue scraping before brushing? I think you might have just changed my life.” Another said: “I’m just now learning I’ve been doing it backwards this whole time.”
How to properly brush your teeth
While Krysta’s advice is helpful for getting the order right, many people also struggle with knowing exactly how to brush their teeth to protect them from decay and disease. Colgate recommends the following steps:
- Start with the outer surfaces of your teeth. Gently brush your upper and then lower teeth, taking your time and going tooth by tooth to help make sure you don’t miss any spots.
- Tilt your brush at a 45° angle. Brush against the gumline to remove trapped plaque or food debris.
- Brush the inner surfaces of your teeth. You might be tempted to miss these sections as they’re not as visible, but these areas are just as vulnerable as the outside surfaces.
- Clean the chewing surfaces of your teeth. You should use short back-and-forth strokes to brush the tops of your back teeth, where food can easily get trapped.
- Finish by brushing your tongue. Odour-causing bacteria can sit on the surface of your tongue, so giving it a good scrape can help give you fresher breath.