How To Have A Winning Smile

Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.

Thich Nhat Hanh

So, I went to the dentist today for a cleaning…

I am among those people that don’t like going to the dentist, despite the fact that I very much like my dentist. It’s like getting my blood pressure taken. It stresses me out. Nonetheless I go every six months, like clockwork

Our smiles – much like our skin, our hands, our bodies – can show our age if we let it. I prefer not to let it…thus my regular cleanings. Starting young is the best approach, but as you know, my philosophy is better late than never.

How can our smiles show age?

1. Our teeth are less white. As a cosmetic trend, this is pretty easy to spot. I notice more ultra white teeth among the young (aka “less wise”) than my peers (the “more wise”). However, this is easily remedied and the result is a dramatic improvement in appearance. There are so many options: over the counter, at the dentist, quick results, longer term results.
   (If you want me to layout whitening options (I’ve tried most of them!) I’m happy to do a deep dive for you. Leave a comment if you want me to do the homework and report back.)
2. Our teeth are unhealthy. This is a general term but an I-know-it-when-I-see-it one. They are discolored, crooked, stained, possibly rotten and probably a precursor to the next point. As we grow wiser, our mouths get drier, which promotes tooth decay. (Maybe drinking more water helps! Go read the blog about that here.)
3. We don’t have all of our teeth. As we grow “wiser”, we are more likely to have fillings and crowns. We want to avoid actually losing teeth if we can. Now, there are plenty of options to replace lost teeth – but isn’t keeping your own teeth the best? So we are going to go into how to do that.
4. We have ill-fitting dental replacements. This is my own opinion, but there is something TOO obvious about veneers, bonds or dentures when they are both too white and too straight. Make sure if you do need to have teeth replaced that you pick a qualified professional who can give you the most natural looking outcome. Thankfully, I haven’t had to personally cross this road yet and hopefully my dental habits will mean I won’t need to.

Dental Hygiene 101

I was telling my dental hygienist today that I learned brand new things about how to brush my teeth six months ago that BLEW MY MIND. She casually commented that most people don’t brush their teeth correctly.

I needed to know how many “most” is, because I’m wired that way, so I looked it up.

Did you know that only 10% of us brush our teeth correctly?! Wow. That’s a lot doing it wrong.

I remember being “taught” how to brush my teeth. Front and back. Up and down. Not too hard. Not too quickly. Get every surface. Hold the bristles at a 45 degree angle.

I remember being envious of the kids who got the “red tablet” to help show where you were missing when you brushed. But as simple as these directions sound, they never REALLY made sense to me. It’s a lot to remember all at once when you’re just waking up or tired and ready for bed. Feel familiar?

My dentist’s advice for oral health and a winning smile is simple and straightforward:

1. Floss – Only the teeth you plan on keeping (ha!). Floss them all. Every single one. Do it every day if you want. Twice a day if you are an over achiever. I personally muster a couple/three times a week.
2. Get regular cleanings – My insurance covers semi-annual cleaning. If you don’t have dental insurance, dental schools are ALWAYS looking for mouths to work on – either for free or for reduced costs! Making sure plaque and tartar are cleared before they cause more major issues is a critical part to keeping your teeth and your smile healthy.
3. Don’t drink too many (any) acidic and sugary drinks – I have so many other reasons NOT to do this – but dental health too? Sure.
4. Use a soft-bristled brush – Hard bristles can damage your tooth enamel. Did you wonder like me why they even SELL hard and medium bristle brushes? Dentures, friends. You need a harder bristle brush for dentures. I like to think of soft-bristled toothbrushes as “Youthbrushes”. (Go ahead. I’ll wait while you chuckle. Anyone sense marketing gold here?)
5. Change your brush every 3- 4 months – I really had trouble this until I added it to my quarterly household to-do list. I now swap my brush out each quarter.
6. Don’t brush too hard – Still too vague for me, but read on.
7. Make sure you brush long enough – Also to vague for me, but…
8. Buy an electric toothbrush – This takes the guess work out of how long and how much pressure to use.

My dentist didn’t recommend a specific one so after a lot of research, I settled on the Oral-B 7500 Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush (in rose gold of course!) [affiliate link].

I wanted one that had the following:

• a gentle mode
• alerted me to time limits (30 secs per quadrant – I’ll explain that in a moment)
• alerted me if I was applying too much pressure (this one turns red)
• had a travel case – so I had the option to easily bring it with me on trips
• was pretty (I selected rose gold – but there are plenty of versions in neutral and more masculine tones)
• NOTE: bluetooth is unnecessary to me – if one of you can tell me WHY bluetooth and an app are necessary in my toothbrush, please comment. I’m baffled by it.

You might think it’s a lot of money for an electric toothbrush. You do you. I won’t judge you in the least. But in my mind, it’s an investment in oral health and in my vital and youthful future. Besides, can you put a price on a youthbrush?

I thought that was the end of the story – and then I stumbled on this video by a favorite YouTuber Nadine Baggott (minute 3:30). In it, her dentist demonstrates the correct way to brush with an electric toothbrush.

Wait to have your mind blown.

How to brush with an electric toothbrush

1. Let it do the work. Most people move their electric toothbrush like a manual brush. Don’t. Hold it still and let the brush do the work. Watch the video (minute 3:30) if this is confusing. The minute you see it, you will have an a-ha like I did!
2. Mentally divide your mouth into four quadrants. That’s upper left, upper right, lower left, lower right. The order doesn’t matter, just make sure you hit all four.
3. Brush each surface for 3 seconds. Again, I recommend watching the video (minute 3:30) which is quick and easy. There are three planes to your teeth, front, back and chewing surface (or top). Hold the brush still for 3 seconds on each tooth front, 3 seconds on each tooth top and 3 seconds on each tooth back. Then your toothbrush will beep and you move to the next quadrant. Four times (or 2 minutes) and you are done.

Trust me. Try it. You will notice a difference. I swear.

If you’ve wondered about sonic toothbrushes, it looks like they are also better than manual toothbrushes. I was poking around clinical studies and research abstracts which seem to corroborate it. I’m not quite there, but maybe I’ll have to try it out soon…with my dental hygienist’s approval.

Wow. My lifestyle blog is quickly turning into a remedial 101 series, am I right? Sorry ’bout that.
I just figure if I’m ignorant then at least 10 other people might be too and this is my forum for sharing things.

If you already knew this, didn’t know it, or try it and are amazed, please leave a comment.

I hate feeling dumb but I love getting smarter. I guess those are two sides of the same coin.

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