Mouthwash, whitening strips... How to use these oral care products best?

September 20, 2020 is the 32nd National Love Teeth Day. Oral health is an important part of overall health. The World Health Organization has listed oral health as one of the top ten standards of human health.

There is a saying that goes like this: Toothache is not a disease, but it is really painful when it happens. However, it is worth noting that dental disease is not only a real disease, but sometimes it is also a "beacon" of systemic diseases and a reflection of overall health. Infections and inflammatory factors in the oral cavity can cause or aggravate chronic diseases such as cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases and diabetes, and endanger physical health. As the most important and important component of oral health, dental health issues cannot be ignored.

According to statistics, 98% of adults in my country have oral problems to varying degrees, of which 90% have dental problems, and more than 60% of patients who have tooth extractions suffer from periodontitis. If you often bleed when brushing your teeth, using hemostatic toothpaste will not control the inflammation. Failure to clean your teeth in time to remove tartar will lead to gingivitis, which will further deteriorate into periodontitis and cause loose teeth.

Dental health issues should not be ignored

xThere are many kinds of oral care products on the market now, such as electric toothbrushes, dental floss, water flossers, mouthwashes, whitening strips, etc. Today, let's learn about these oral care products. Are they really effective? How should they be used correctly?

How effective are electric toothbrushes?

The more mainstream ones are sonic electric toothbrushes and non-sonic electric toothbrushes. Non-sonic electric toothbrushes achieve cleaning effects through high-speed friction between the brush head and teeth, but the bristles of electric toothbrushes swing at a higher frequency, and the cleaning effect is better than ordinary toothbrushes. Sonic vibration toothbrushes use ultrasonic converters hidden in the brush head to make the brush head vibrate at a high frequency, loosening the plaque, tartar and difficult-to-detect early tartar on the surface of the teeth, and even shaking them off.

A wide variety of electric toothbrushes

The cleaning of ordinary toothbrushes is a gentle force that cycles back and forth, making large pieces of food residues on the surface of teeth change from large to small, from existing to disappearing, to achieve the purpose of cleaning. When brushing teeth with ordinary toothbrushes, we often find it difficult to control the strength and direction. It is difficult for ordinary people to fully master the international standard Bass brushing method, which greatly reduces the cleaning efficiency. The working mode of some electric toothbrushes imitates the Bass brushing method. The brush head is smaller than that of ordinary toothbrushes, which can reach more hidden parts and make cleaning more thorough.

Electric toothbrushes are indeed less labor-intensive than ordinary toothbrushes and are easier to develop good habits. They are recommended for children, the elderly, and people with limited hand movement.

In fact, as long as the technique is correct and the time is up to the standard (3-5 minutes), either an ordinary toothbrush or an electric toothbrush can achieve the same cleaning effect.

Does flossing make the spaces between teeth wider?

Many friends may not be familiar with this tool. Dental floss is a thin thread made of nylon, silk or polyester fibers. It is a product that relies on dragging motion to clean teeth. It is divided into waxed and unwaxed types, and also divided into whole rolls of dental floss and dental floss with sticks.

Dental floss stick (Photo courtesy of Huang Lu)

Surveys show that even if we brush our teeth every day, toothbrushes can only reach 60-70% of the tooth surface. So what areas are missed? Among these "forgotten corners", the most important are the interproximal spaces and interproximal surfaces (the gaps between two teeth), which toothbrushes cannot reach. So how can we clean these areas? Only dental floss can do it.

Dental floss can completely remove dental plaque, soft scale and food residue hidden in the gaps between teeth and the neck of teeth. Dental floss is flat, thin, soft and elastic, so it will not damage the gums or widen the gaps between teeth.

If you want to pick your teeth, dental floss is much safer than a toothpick. It is the most effective tool for cleaning teeth and is recognized as the oral hygiene maintenance tool with the toothbrush that causes the least damage to teeth.

The best time to use dental floss is when brushing your teeth. At this time, the toothpaste has been evenly applied to the surface of each tooth by the toothbrush, and the foam is rich. At this time, flossing can, firstly, the abrasive in the toothpaste can work with the dental floss to facilitate cleaning; secondly, the effective ingredients such as anti-caries in the toothpaste can be brought into the gaps between teeth to play a cleaning role.

How to use dental floss (Photo courtesy of Huang Lu)

In addition, when using dental floss, we should observe whether there is pain, bleeding, or flossing. If the above situations occur, you need to go to the dentist to check whether there are oral problems such as caries or dental calculus.

The oral cavity is a bacterial environment. Foreign experiments have found that there are more pathogenic microorganisms between two teeth than on a cockroach's leg. So when you brush your teeth every day, don't forget to use dental floss to clean the dirt between your teeth twice a day.

Is a water flosser worth buying?

As the name suggests, the water flosser uses high-pressure pulsed water to achieve the effect of deep cleaning teeth. Its water column can enter the mouth unimpeded to complete the cleaning, especially the gaps between teeth. In addition, the water flosser can also play the role of gum massage.

Water flossers can be used together with dental floss to clean interproximal spaces, but they cannot replace brushing and flossing (Photo courtesy of Huang Lu)

However, the water flosser cannot replace brushing and flossing, and is more suitable for the following people:

1. People who wear fixed orthodontic appliances (brackets);

2. People with large gaps between teeth, which are prone to food stuck in the teeth. Generally, the gaps between teeth of middle-aged and elderly people are large. Compared with toothpicks, water flossers are easier to remove food residues between teeth, and they should be used with interdental brushes;

3. People with dental implants or fixed dentures. Such people should do a good job of oral hygiene. Periodontal health will affect the service life of various dentures, so such people should do a good job of oral hygiene.

4. People with periodontal problems;

5. People who are prone to dental caries;

6. People with impacted wisdom teeth;

7. Ordinary people, daily use.

Water flossers can deeply clean teeth (Photo courtesy of Huang Lu)

Can mouthwash be used instead of a toothbrush?

The "root of all evil" of oral diseases is dental plaque, which is actually a layer of bacterial biofilm attached to the surface of teeth that cannot be washed away by water. It is the culprit of all dental diseases such as tooth decay, periodontitis and bad breath. Daily mouthwash contains certain antibacterial ingredients. Although mouthwash can remove food residues and some soft scales in the mouth, the removal of plaque mainly depends on mechanical friction. In other words, only toothbrushes and dental floss can remove it. Therefore, it is also not recommended to use mouthwash instead of brushing teeth. It should be noted that some mouthwashes are not recommended for long-term use, which can easily lead to changes in the oral flora environment or even oral flora imbalance, which is not conducive to oral hygiene.

Medicinal mouthwash (Photo courtesy of Huang Lu)

Mouthwash has the effect of cleaning and antibacterial, but it cannot replace brushing teeth (Photo courtesy of Huang Lu)

How do whitening strips whiten teeth?

Nowadays, many advertisements promote whitening teeth strips, which are easy to use and effective. As the saying goes, more haste makes waste. It is inevitable that people will be suspicious of such "efficiency" that can make teeth whiter in a short period of time.

Whitening strips use oxides to oxidize the dirt on the surface of teeth, making them clean again, thus highlighting the whitening effect of teeth. When the strips are attached to the tooth surface, the whitening ingredients in the strips come into contact with saliva and begin to release new active oxygen. These oxygen free radicals can penetrate into the enamel and dentin through the micropores of the teeth, decomposing pigments to achieve a whitening effect.

However, when using whitening strips, teeth will be more sensitive and easily stained, so you need to pay more attention to your diet during use. Moreover, long-term and frequent use, especially when using unqualified products, will also affect the health of teeth. In severe cases, dentin hypersensitivity may occur, and there is even a higher risk of cancer!

In addition to oral care products, to protect your teeth, you should also pay attention to a balanced diet and control the intake of sugar and acid, which can effectively prevent dental diseases. In addition, after drinking juice, tea, coffee, milk tea, soda water and other beverages containing sugar, pigments, carbonic acid or phosphoric acid, and after eating biscuits, desserts, dried fruits and other foods, remember to drink boiled water, which can reduce pigmentation and reduce the risk of dental caries.

Protect your teeth and care for your oral health

Written by Huang Lu, Director of Stomatology, member of the Chinese Stomatological Association, member of the Standing Committee of the Health Communication Working Committee of the Chinese Medical Doctor Association, and member of the American Dental Association (ADA)

Proofreader | Fu Yuanfei, deputy chief physician of the Department of Oral Restoration, the Ninth People's Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, and deputy director of the Oral Restoration Technology Professional Committee of the Chinese Stomatological Association

This article was published by Tencent's "Everyone Loves Science" team

Please indicate that the source of the reprint is from Science Popularization China