Why do dentists always recommend to brush 2 times for 2-3 minutes?
I almost always read in the news/press that dentists recommend to brush teeth two times a day for 2-3 minutes.
This drives me crazy, because it does not make sense; The point for dental health is to systematical clean every surface of your teeth twice a day (and use inter-dental brushes/floss once a day). For me, brushing my teeth takes around 6 minutes, if I hurry up. For someone faster it might be possible in 1 minute.
So, why do dentists always give the 2-3 minutes recommendation?
In a sense, I guess op is right though — I recently read that ~70% of people in a study were brushing ineffectively, no matter how long they were told to brush. Their brushing only improved after being told to make sure to brush every every "sector" of their teeth.
When I was growing up they used to say "brush after every meal" and then it became three times per day, now it's "please just brush twice at some point".
There’s other factors than just brushing your teeth but brushing is probably the easiest factor that most people can reasonably take control of.
Genetics, obviously you can’t do much about. But you can avoid sweets and decide not to get pregnant (hormonal changes during pregnancy can cause mouths to get more acidic and make plaque harder to remove, and can also soften the gums and bones that hold teeth in, or even weaken the teeth directly). Also, if you want nice teeth, it’s especially important to abstain from smoking crystal meth. And that’s even more important during pregnancy.
But telling everybody “brush twice a day for two minutes” is a small ask with huge returns.
Idk. I’ve been able to maintain a pretty consistent balance of crystal and healthy teeth. Every one of them that’ve fallen out have been nice, white, and cavity free.
I've always brushed my teeth twice a day and I've had like 6-8 cavities, a root canal, and an implant. There's more to it than brushing. Some of it is biological.
The whole point is to not leave starches/sugars in places long enough for a biofilm of plaque to form.
The problem is, teeth are poorly shaped to clean and the interface of the gums is down right hard to get to.
So what they're trying to do is to get you to clean often enough that you manage to get some of the hard to get areas covered but not so often that you're sanding the enamel of your teeth.
One reason why I enjoy my electric toothbrush, as it vibrates every 30 seconds to tell you to switch to the next quadrant, up to 2 minutes. No guesswork, and it brushes better than I ever could using a regular toothbrush.
Seriously, I have no idea how one could brush teeth in 2 minutes. I brush gently, use the simple swipe away from the gum technique and just work systematic chewing surfaces, inner surfaces, outer surfaces. Each part gets 2-3 swipes. I had a professional dental cleaner teach this technique to me, and she also told me that she couldn't finish within 3 minutes.
(Do not misunderstand me; I would happily get away with 2 minutes.) BTW flossing is another interesting topic, AFAIK there is no study which can show that flossing helps your teeth/gum. (I floss daily, but I just cannot understand why there is no study which supports this practice.)
I only floss when I can't get something out from my teeth, but I hate the feeling of things in my teeth so I often take a drink of water and aggressively rinse and like force the water through my teeth. Never had any dental issues, so 🤷
My electric toothbrush works in four 30-second increments. Each 30 seconds is plenty of time for me to cover a quadrant. I slowly go over the outside, inside, top/bottom, gums in each quadrant. Maybe if I was meticulously brushing each tooth one by one, I could see the issue, but that's not necessary, is it?
So I've had something like 25-30 cavities filled in my life. I haven't had a single cavity in 10 years, though. I brush only once a day, and floss. The trick is flouride rinse afterwards. That's the secret.
I'm also like you with my timing but most people I know say I take ages with my teeth. Apparently most people are done with their brushing in less than one minute. Therefore, dentists recommend spending at least two or three. I don't think you need to brush for less time than what you already are.
It really makes me angry, that there is no free dental hygiene training for children/teenagers.
I life in a comparatively rich society (Germany), but our retarded health care system pumps billions every year in preventable diseases (like most dental problems) and exactly zero in prophylaxes.
Buy high fluorine toothpaste and put a TINY (I mean, miniscule amount) on your toothbrush. There should be only a few speckles of the stuff on there. Then brush just enough to ensure each and every nook and cranny is covered in the stuff, rinse and spit. If the next time you go to brush you still taste the toothpaste, you put on too much and therefore don't need to reapply it. Just put on a little less next time.
Never had a cavity since I started doing that, and I'm not even a 1/16th through the tube. Best money I ever spent.
EDIT: A few other dental tricks that will help dramatically:
You don't need to brush twice a day, once is plenty and preferably before bed
Don't brush right after eating/drinking especially if it was acidic, that tears your enamel apart
Use only a pea-sized blob of toothpaste, if you use it like they show you in the commercials, you're an idiot
The primary goal of brushing is to apply fluoride, the secondary goal is to get shit out of your gums
Tooth whitening is a scam designed to poke at your insecurities. If you buy into it, you're an idiot
Dr. Fortnite says floss every night. Use a water flosser or pay attention to how your dentist flosses as their technique is immaculate
All floss is blood-flavored, do not try to push back against this universal truth for it is absolute
There is no sensation more elating than your dentist actually being impressed at your dental health
Some toothpastes and flosses cause cancer, research which ones and stay away from them
A Colgate tee shirt looks almost exactly like a supreme one and costs a fraction of the price
Surely part of your 6 minutes is flossing and mouthwash though.
I systematically clean each surface but my electric toothbrush has an automatic timer that buzzes at the 2 min mark and its surprising how close it is. I normally only have one or two teeth to go.
There are two things with brushing your teeth: first, the mechanical action of the brush and the microparticuls in the toothpaste will clean the tooth. Second, the fluorine in the toothpaste will consolidate the enamel of the tooth, but it needs a bit of time to be absorbed.
This is why it's important to use real toothpaste and not the natural shit you can do yourself at home.
So 2-3min is the right time to brush the tooth and allow the fluorine to be absorbed. Some dentists will also tell you to not rinse the mouth, only spit the saliva and paste, I imagine so that fluorine has more time to work.