How to properly brush your teeth with a toothbrush
Think brushing your teeth is easy? No matter how. There are over a hundred different methods of brushing your teeth! Of course, it is not necessary to know all of them, but what is definitely important is to brush your teeth correctly. Let’s find out how to do it

Method of Leonard, Bass, Charter, Reite Do these names mean anything? Probably not. After all, even dentists are far from familiar with all methods of brushing teeth. At the same time, it is difficult to find a person who does not brush their teeth at least once a day, but it is much easier to find those who do it incorrectly – this is every fourth. In order not to be one of them, it is enough to know all the rules of the standard method of brushing your teeth.

What problems can arise if you do not brush your teeth

The rules for brushing your teeth manually, that is, with an ordinary brush, and electric are different. But with the correct use of a manual brush, the result is the same – high-quality cleaning of the surfaces of the teeth.

Known methods of brushing teeth, which directed to solve certain problems. For example, the Leonard method is recommended for patients suffering from gum disease. It is based on the removal of plaque from the so-called hard-to-reach places: between the teeth, in the cervical area.

Step by step instructions for brushing your teeth with a toothbrush

The standard method of brushing your teeth consists of several successive steps. The first thing to start with is to visually divide the oral cavity into 4 squares: two right and left on the upper and lower jaws. The dividing line between these quadrants runs between the central incisors. After you can start the procedure.

A dentist can teach you the rules of brushing your teeth with a standard or other method at an in-person appointment. He will tell and show all the nuances on the three-dimensional model.
Ekaterina DronovaDentist, surgeon, implantologist, periodontist

Cleansing the buccal surface of the teeth

After rinsing the toothbrush under running water, a small amount of paste is applied to its bristles – the size of a pea. More pasta does not mean better, because some is swallowed or leaks into the sink. Be sure to rinse your mouth.

  • The toothbrush is set at a 45° angle to the buccal surface of the teeth in the upper left quadrant. Cleansing occurs sweeping movements: from the gums to the cutting edge.
  • The working head of the brush covers 2 – 2,5 teeth, and in the area of ​​u5bu10beach, you need to make about XNUMX – XNUMX sweeping movements.
  • Gradually move from the left square to the right.

Cleansing the chewing surface of the teeth

The chewing surface of the teeth is cleaned by reciprocating movements. And this is the only area in the mouth where it is permissible to brush your teeth with such movements! When cleaning the buccal surfaces of the teeth with reciprocating movements, the likelihood of developing a wedge-shaped defect increases.

When cleaning, special attention should be paid to cleaning the chewing teeth, the fissure area – natural depressions where plaque accumulates and caries often forms.

Cleaning the palatal surface of the teeth

A rather complicated procedure associated with the activation of the gag reflex, but necessary. The cleaning of these surfaces of the teeth should also be carried out with sweeping movements.

Cleaning the teeth of the lower jaw

It starts from the left square, first from the buccal surface, then they move to the chewing and lingual. Special attention should be paid to cleaning the latter, because traditionally a large amount of plaque accumulates here, which quickly turns into stone and causes inflammatory gum disease, caries and other pathologies of the oral cavity.

Completion of brushing teeth

With the jaws closed, the bristles of the brush are set so that it touches the gums and the brush is moved in a circular motion from the left to the right side. This stimulates blood circulation in the gums, this is a certain measure for the prevention of inflammatory gum disease.

With closed jaws, you need to complete several cycles of rotational movements. And this is the final stage of cleansing the oral cavity of the standard method. However, this is not all.

Tongue cleansing

In the description of the standard method of brushing teeth, there are no recommendations for cleaning the surface of the tongue. But after all, a huge amount of bacteria accumulates here, which can cause an unpleasant odor, as well as some diseases of the oral cavity.

The tongue is cleaned with the help of special scrapers, the back of a toothbrush or an irrigator. As practice shows, special nozzles of irrigators for cleansing the tongue make this procedure more comfortable, and provoke a gag reflex to a lesser extent.

Expert Tips for Brushing Your Teeth

There are recommendations to help improve the quality of brushing your teeth. The first thing to start with is to brush your teeth at least twice a day: in the morning after breakfast, and in the evening, before going to bed, after eating. And nothing else!

It is not recommended to start the procedure immediately after eating. This increases the likelihood of a wedge-shaped defect and other damage to the enamel. After breakfast, lunch or dinner, you can brush your teeth only after 15 to 30 minutes. The cleaning time with a manual, that is, with a conventional manual brush, is at least 3-5 minutes.

There are other rules to follow:

  • turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth: pouring water reduces the brushing time – researchers from the UK came to this conclusion;
  • rinsing the mouth after cleaning is not recommended, you just need to spit out the foam – the fact is that the remaining film from the paste continues to saturate the teeth with minerals, provides an antiseptic effect or another, depending on its purpose, and a thorough rinsing of the oral cavity washes off the paste and it ceases to work ;
  • immediately after brushing your teeth, it is also not recommended to use a mouthwash – it has a much lower concentration of minerals than in the paste, so it literally washes away the active substances, which reduces the effectiveness of the paste; Rinses are an additional hygiene product and in order for it to really work, you need to use it correctly – 10 – 15 minutes after cleaning.

Popular questions and answers

Proper brushing of teeth is the basis for the prevention of all diseases of the oral cavity. And how to maintain it at the proper level, what nuances to pay attention to, will tell doctor-dentist surgeon, implantologist, periodontologist Dronova Ekaterina.

Why is it important to brush your teeth properly?

It is not enough just to have the most expensive, advertised toothbrush and paste, it is important to know the very technique of brushing your teeth and understand the end result. Toothbrushing consists in removing soft plaque from the buccal, lingual, palatine, chewing, contact (between teeth) surfaces. And this is only possible with the right technique.

How to improve the quality of brushing your teeth?

Exclusively under the supervision of a dentist as part of a guided brushing procedure. It consists in professional control using modern methods of plaque diagnostics: solutions or tablets for the indication of plaque.

As part of the procedure, the dentist invites the patient to brush their teeth as they usually do at home. After that, the patient is offered to rinse the mouth with a special solution or dissolve a tablet that stains plaque: soft in one color, stone in another, darker one. This clearly shows the problem areas that need to be addressed in the future. By the way, such means of indicating plaque can and should be used at home. Especially for patients at risk:

• with crowded teeth;

• bite pathologies, when one or more teeth go beyond the dentition;

• during orthodontic treatment, when braces or other structures are installed in the oral cavity.

In this case, it is important to convey to the patient recommendations on oral hygiene with a particular use of brushes, dental floss, irrigators, rinses, etc.

Are there any features of teeth cleaning with implants installed and at the stages of treatment?


Patients’ understanding of the importance of proper oral hygiene during implant placement is the path to success, as well as reducing the risk of post-implantation complications.

Before installing implants for consultations, all risks are assessed:

• the presence of bad habits, such as smoking;

• level of hygiene;

• Patients always undergo comprehensive professional oral hygiene beforehand;

• the desire of the patient to achieve goals and change the state of the oral cavity for the better.

In general, the hygiene rules during implant treatment are the same, but there are some peculiarities: the use of soft brushes, anti-inflammatory toothpastes, antiseptic rinses, etc. Each specific clinical case has its own set of hygiene recommendations.

Leave a Reply