Tooth brushing

I know it is not book related, but I found this most interesting.

Last week we went en famille for a dental check up. The girls went first and were declared ok though Jessica wasn't brushing her molars enough around the gums. Anyway I asked our dentist for a bit of advice on the toothbrushing front and what he said has completeley revolutionised our toothbrushing.

1. Use a brush with a small head. It gets to the back bits better.

2. Have 2 toothbrushes - one for the morning and one for the evening. They have to be dry when you place the toothpaste on them. So after you have brushed in the morning, wash the brush and leave it for 24 hours to dry out (hence the evening toothbrush).

3. Do not wet your toothbrush at any point. There is enough saliva in your mouth for the job. Which means no longer do we leave the tap running throughout the toothbrushing time. I had always felt guilty at how wasteful this was. And it is true, you don't need any water (which only dilutes and washes away the toothpaste). Your mouth ends up producing copious amounts of saliva.

4. Do not rinse your mouth out, leave it as it is to let the toothpaste carry on working on teeth and gums. Again it makes sense.

5. Make sure you brush for 2 minutes (probably twice as long as we had been doing).

Anyway, we've been doing it and it cleans your teeth a treat. With no water wasted.

As with my washing machine experience, it is always good to find out these things.

Tomorrow we will return to more bookish things. Maybe ...