It is essential to consider when you should brush your teeth for optimal dental care. When you brush your teeth, it should be at least 20 minutes after eating, twice a day, and after flossing. Many people don’t realize they must wait at least 20 minutes after eating because eating turns your mouth acidic. When you expose your teeth to acid, they can easily wear away to brushing, even with a soft toothbrush. In fact, tooth root notches are prevalent in people that think they are taking care of their teeth. However, they have created these notches partly due to brushing too soon after eating.

Brushing after flossing is vital because it's more effective in removing plaque. Also, brushing second helps the fluoride from toothpaste strengthen the tooth. If you brush first, the fluoride cannot interact with the tooth because the interdental plaque blocks the fluoride. I made a video here to compare the results between brushing first and second.

It is important to brush twice a day but at least once. The decay process takes only 24 hours to start, even though it takes a long time to become apparent. Breaking up the bacteria in the plaque once every 24 hours by brushing will help to prevent decay. Brushing twice daily it will help break up the plaque before it becomes more tenacious and difficult to remove.

Brushing at least 30 minutes before your next meal will help your plaque be healthy with little cavity-forming bacteria. Carbohydrates, especially sugar, feed and help increase cavity-forming bacteria in plaque. Instead, eating 30 minutes after brushing will help your plaque form with healthy bacteria.

To brush your teeth properly, you need to angle your toothbrush at 45 degrees to the tooth, make small manual circles with the brush, apply light pressure, use non-abrasive toothpaste, brush for 30 seconds in each quadrant of your mouth, and brush the front, back, and biting surface of each tooth.

If you make small manual circles in addition to the electric vibrations of a toothbrush, you will remove more plaque. Watch my “brushing properly” video to compare brushing technique results. In addition to removing plaque efficiently, brushing in circles also does less damage to your tooth.

Brushing for 30 seconds in each quadrant, for a two-minute total, may seem like plenty of time. However, that 30 seconds is broken down further to 12 seconds on the cheek side of the tooth, 12 seconds on the tongue side of the tooth, and 6 seconds on the biting surface of the tooth. Therefore, the most important feature of an electric toothbrush is the timer that keeps you on pace to ensure you are brushing thoroughly and at an even pace.

Watch my video on the results of brushing at different amounts of time. You will see from this video why brushing close to 2 minutes is so important.

Pink-stained plaque levels before brushing and flossing.

Pink-stained plaque levels after flossing and brushing 20 seconds.

You should do other possible dental care measures in addition to flossing and brushing. There is no adequate substitute for this oral hygiene routine, so additional oral hygiene care is not to replace brushing and flossing. If you are using an extra fluoride rinse, you should use it after brushing so the fluoride will strengthen your teeth. If you use a non-fluoride rinse, use it before brushing, so you don’t rinse away the fluoride.

A water flosser, like the Waterpick, can be helpful, but they are not a substitute for floss. Watch my video on why water flossers aren't as efficient as a good floss. Then, click here for my favorite floss.