Why Brushing Isn’t Enough for Cleaning Teeth

We all know how important it is to brush our teeth. Ever since we were young children our parents made sure that we were brushing our teeth twice a day every single day so that we wouldn’t get cavities. But does your dental care routine include anything other brushing? Do you floss? Or use mouthwash? For most people, their dental cleaning routine starts and ends with brushing. But brushing isn’t going to cut for long term dental health. Here are three critical reasons why brushing isn’t enough for cleaning teeth and what else you can do to keep your teeth healthy.

Not Everyone Brushes Long Enough

The first reason why brushing isn’t enough for cleaning your teeth is because not everyone brushes for long enough. In fact, most people don’t brush for long enough. You should be brushing for about two to three minutes when you brush in order to really scrub your teeth and get them clean. For most people thirty seconds or less is all they dedicate to their brushing, and over time, it shows. While the easiest solution to this problem is just to remember to brush longer, many people forget. It is better to include other care in your dental care routine to ensure other cleaning gets done.

Bacteria Hides in Hard-to-Reach Spaces

Another crucial reason why brushing isn’t enough for cleaning teeth is because bacteria hide in hard-to-reach spaces in your mouth. Your toothbrush simply isn’t capable of catching every single last crumb, piece of food, and hidden bacteria and plaque. Flossing is a great addition step to help clean your gums and between your teeth, but that doesn’t cover most of your mouth. Mouthwash gets rid of any remaining bacteria that brushing and flossing can’t. Don’t neglect cleaning your entire mouth.

Your Teeth Are Important

The final reason why brushing isn’t enough for cleaning your teeth is because your teeth are important. Leaving your mouth, a bit unclean allows for the development of all sorts of mouth diseases and issues that can cause some serious long-term consequences. These include tooth loss and gum disease, amongst many others. Brushing, flossing, and mouthwash are all critical to keep your mouth clean from every angle, and if you are just brushing you are not doing enough.

Taking care of your teeth is a necessity every single day. And just brushing alone isn’t going to be enough to keep your mouth healthy in the long run. Understand there’s three reasons that brushing isn’t enough and start including flossing and mouthwash as regular components of your routine.

Check out this article on how to make brushing fun for kids!