Electric Toothbrush: Benefits and Tips for Use

05 / 09 / 2018

Electric Toothbrush: Benefits and Tips for Use

Brushing your teeth twice a day can certainly help to keep your teeth and gums in good condition. However, making the right toothbrush choice can be just as important. Whether you choose a manual or electric toothbrush, do you know which toothbrush head, soft or firm, is best for your pearly whites? When it comes to cleaning techniques, why should the bristles cover the surface of your teeth and your gum line? If you think an electric toothbrush might be just what you need, read on. This way, you will find out all their benefits and how to use yours more effectively. If you live in Suffolk, you can even enter our competition below to win a Philips Sonicare Sonic model with an rrp of £299 via our Twitter feed @LighthouseDent2.

How Long Should You Brush For?

Whether you own a manual or electric toothbrush, you should brush your teeth for two minutes, morning and night. The key is to reach every tooth during this time. Electric toothbrushes have the ability to produce thousands more brush strokes than manual brushing. For example, a Philips Sonicare toothbrush can deliver an impressive 31,000 brush stokes a minute to help remove plaque. In fact, Philips claims this is the equivalent to one month’s worth of manual brush strokes in two minutes.

Keeping Teeth, Gums And Your Tongue Healthy

The brush on an electric model uses a combination of motion and equal pressure, which means your entire mouth benefits from a thorough clean in the process. However, don’t be fooled that this method will do all the work for you. You’ll still need to cover all of the surfaces of your teeth using the right brushing technique. You will find there’s more to follow on technique later in this post. Also, make sure you stick to two minutes of brushing and leave time for flossing between your teeth, twice a day. And don’t forget you’ll need to regularly replace your toothbrush head to ensure your model is working at full capacity.

Suitability For Certain People

An electric toothbrush can be useful for a wide variety of reasons. If you are not removing enough plaque with your manual toothbrush our dentists may advise you to try an electric model. For children, they may find an electric one more fun to use in an effort to keep their oral hygiene in optimum condition. Also, people with mobility issues, such as arthritis, could find it easier to use a toothbrush with power. Even those with orthodontics, such as braces, may find an electric toothbrush can reach around the metal parts more easily.

Bad Breath Prevention

Brushing your teeth regularly can help to stop bad breath, which can occur as a result of food getting lodged between teeth and plaque forming. So combine an electric toothbrush with regular flossing and this should provide a powerful prevention and removal method.

What To Buy

Buying the right brush head to suit you can be a minefield, but we always suggest you ask your dentist first. For adults, we tend to advise on a small to medium-sized version. This way, it will be compact enough to reach every part of your mouth. Also, nylon bristles with round ends, which are multi-tufted and soft to medium strength, can work well. However, everyone is different so it’s worth speaking to us about your needs first. Electric toothbrush types vary and include rotary, sonic, ultrasonic and ionic versions, which can all help you look after your beautiful pearly whites in their own way.

How To Use Your Electric Toothbrush

Once your heart is set on an electric toothbrush, it’s good to fully understand how your model works to make sure it is going to be effective. Did you know, whether you use a manual or electric model, you need to position the head of your brush at a 45-degree angle to the gum line? Consequently, your bristles should be in contact with both your teeth and your gum line for you to achieve the most efficient brushing technique. In addition, this is where you’ll find most plaque builds. Add a pea-sized amount of fluoride toothpaste to the head and hey presto, after two minutes of brushing, you will find this is a great way to prevent tooth decay.

However, you still need to ensure you are brushing ‘everywhere’ during those two crucial minutes every morning and evening. By this we mean make sure you brush all three surfaces of your teeth – inside, outside and of course the biting surfaces. Don’t forget to brush your tongue and the roof of your mouth to help remove any lingering bacteria, too. Overall, try not to brush too hard or you could brush away the enamel, which protects your teeth. Overzealous brushing can also cause gums to recede so make sure you don’t use too much pressure.

Win A Philips Sonicare Sonic Electric Toothbrush

PLEASE NOTE: This competition has now ended.

We set up our Twitter feed @LighthouseDent2 only this month and we’d love you to join us to hear all our latest news and views! So, to celebrate, we have a Philips Sonicare electric toothbrush worth £299 up for grabs for one lucky new Twitter follower. To be in with a chance of winning, you must live in SUFFOLK. All you have to do is simply FOLLOW our Lighthouse Dental Practice Twitter feed, RETWEET and RESPOND to our competition tweets with #LighthouseDComp. Then one winner, chosen at random, will win this fantastic toothbrush.

Product Details

Philips say this model will achieve a whiter smile in one week with their DiamondClean brush head. Results are based on two periods of two minutes of brushing per day in standard mode. With five modes, including Deep Clean and Sensitive and Philips, it claims to remove up to seven times more plaque along the gum line than a manual toothbrush.

Don’t forget to FOLLOW us on Twitter. Remember, you won’t qualify to enter if you don’t live in Suffolk or start following us.

Terms & Conditions:*

You are providing your information to Lighthouse Dental Practice and not Twitter.* You must be aged over 18 to enter this competition.* Entrants must live in Suffolk.* Closing date for all entries is midnight on October 8th 2018.* We will select a winner at random on Tuesday, October 9th 2018. We will then notify them with a direct message.* This promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by or associated with Twitter or Facebook.* You are providing your information to Lighthouse Dental Practice and not Twitter.* The prize is non-transferable and no cash alternative will be given.* Winner has 48 hours to respond to the notification that they’ve won. If we do not hear back from you, we reserve the right to choose another winner.

We are here to help you.
If you would like to speak to a member of our friendly team about any of the issues in this article please visit our contact page or call us on 01473 257379.