How often should I replace my toothbrush?

Replacing your toothbrush regularly, electric or manual, is extremely important in terms of protecting the overall health of your mouth. As thoroughly as you might clean your teeth, if you are using a tired, dull toothbrush you are not fully reducing your risk of needing expensive or invasive dental treatment. 

 

Dentists agree that you should replace your toothbrush every 12 to 16 weeks. This is because “your toothbrush is your first line of defence against the bacteria that cause gum disease, tooth decay, and bad breath”. Whether or not your toothbrush bristles are starting to show the signs of excessive use, you should change your toothbrush roughly every three months. 

 

The three-month rule applies to electric toothbrushes as well as manual ones, although it is recommended that you change the head of an electric toothbrush closer to once every 12 weeks due to the fact that toothbrush heads on electric toothbrushes have shorter nylon bristles than conventional toothbrushes, which can sometimes mean that they fray sooner. 

 

Today, most people know that they need to brush their teeth for two minutes, twice a day, using a fluoride-enhanced toothpaste. But to fully protect your teeth from developing cavities, you should use a toothbrush that allows you easy access to all of your teeth and has soft bristles so that you avoid brushing too hard and damaging the enamel on your teeth. 

 

Good oral hygiene isn’t just important for your dental health, it is also important for your overall wellbeing as gum disease is a major risk factor for the development of serious health conditions, including heart disease and diabetes. 

 

Changing your toothbrush every 12 weeks is important no matter your age, so children as 

well as the elderly should be doing this as well. Therefore, it is important to keep an eye out for the age of your children’s toothbrushes as well as an elderly relative’s for whom you might be providing any level of care. An easy way to do this is to synchronise the day that everyone’s toothbrush needs to be changed meaning that you only need to set one reminder on your calendar for everyone’s toothbrush to be changed. Doing this will help you to easily keep track of the welfare of everyone’s mouths and teeth. 

 

If brushing your teeth can be sometimes be a chore for your child or children, then there all sorts of ways that you can make it fun for them to look after their teeth. You can set times, play songs or even download an app that they can use to monitor how thoroughly they are brushing their teeth. Instilling proper tooth brushing and flossing techniques in children is vital for ensuring that they maintain this behaviour into adulthood as they have been given the opportunity to develop good oral hygiene habits from a very young age. 

 

As with all other issues relating to the overall health of your mouth and teeth, Fourways Dental Surgery is happy to help you with any advice or tips that you might need. Call us on 01732 882413..