The reason why you are not brushing your teeth properly is actually because you are doing it wrong from the beginning!

When it comes to brushing teeth, it is a commonplace. There are countless popular science articles on the Internet. But many people still don't get the key points of brushing teeth correctly. The reason may be that your brushing method is wrong from the beginning. Because the initial operation points of brushing teeth are actually hidden in your toothbrush holding posture and toothbrush movement.

1. How to hold a toothbrush

This is a problem that almost all popular science articles on toothbrushing methods on the Internet ignore. Perhaps these popular science articles are based on theoretical knowledge about toothbrushing in textbooks, so they usually get straight to the point - starting with how the toothbrush bristles should be placed and how they should move.

However, it is undeniable that even electric toothbrushes need to be operated by people. Therefore, the grip is actually the first step, and a critical step.

Just like if you want to write well, you must hold the pen incorrectly, and the same goes for brushing your teeth. But in fact, many people hold the toothbrush according to their feeling.

The key to holding a toothbrush is to be both stable and flexible, so the fist method obviously cannot meet this requirement.

In fact, the correct way to hold a toothbrush is to make a " thumbs-up " gesture, with the tip of your thumb placed at the junction of the neck and the handle (many toothbrushes now have a certain design at this position to guide the placement of the thumb), while the other four fingers hold the handle tightly. The thumb and the other four fingers can form an opposing force, which is more conducive to flexible movement of the handle (see the picture below).

Among them, the confrontation between the thumb and index finger can achieve flexible rotation of the brush handle (see the video below).

2 How to move your toothbrush

Many people think that brushing teeth requires vigorous brushing to show that you are attentive. Therefore, many people start swinging their arms and brushing vigorously. But in fact, brushing teeth should not rely on the strength of the arm, but the strength of the wrist .

As we all know, the toothbrushing method usually recommended by dentists is the modified BASS method, in which one of the key movements is the horizontal vibration method , which means that the bristles move back and forth in a short distance horizontally. Since it is to achieve a short distance back and forth movement, a large swing of the arm will definitely not work.

Another key action in the improved BASS brushing method is the brushing method , which requires the bristles to rotate on the surface of the teeth (the bristles turn from the gum junction to the incisal tip or occlusal surface of the teeth). The rotation of the bristles can only rely on the strength of the wrist, that is, through the flexible rotation of the wrist, the brushing action of the bristles on the surface of the teeth is achieved (see the video below).

To sum up, without a stable and flexible toothbrush holding posture and appropriate toothbrush driving force, there is no way to talk about the correct brushing method.