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?

kusivittula,

i find it inconvenient to do that every day, so i brush once a month for 2 hours.

TheFriendlyDickhead,

With this simple trick you can save time EVERY DAY

lemmylommy,

Click here to chat with hot dentists in your area

onestop,

the link is down, can you fix it? i just read that they’re desperate to meet me

zingo,

Worthful quality lifehack right there.

It’s the little things that makes all the difference.

Omega_Haxors, (edited )

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.

::: spoiler EDIT: A few other dental tricks that will help dramatically:

  1. You don’t need to brush twice a day, once is plenty and preferably before bed
  2. Don’t brush right after eating/drinking especially if it was acidic, that tears your enamel apart
  3. Use only a pea-sized blob of toothpaste, if you use it like they show you in the commercials, you’re an idiot
  4. The primary goal of brushing is to apply fluoride, the secondary goal is to get shit out of your gums
  5. Tooth whitening is a scam designed to poke at your insecurities. If you buy into it, you’re an idiot
  6. Dr. Fortnite says floss every night. Use a water flosser or pay attention to how your dentist flosses as their technique is immaculate
  7. All floss is blood-flavored, do not try to push back against this universal truth for it is absolute
  8. There is no sensation more elating than your dentist actually being impressed at your dental health
  9. Some toothpastes and flosses cause cancer, research which ones and stay away from them
  10. A Colgate tee shirt looks almost exactly like a supreme one and costs a fraction of the price
Hazzia,

Okay you already had my attention but I’m absolutely running with

bouh,

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.

Cromalin,
@Cromalin@hexbear.net avatar

i figure it’s a good point that’ll get most people most of the way there. not too confusing

snowe,
@snowe@programming.dev avatar

You are harming your teeth if you brush them that much, that’s why. Overbrushing is just as bad as brushing too little.

Lucidlethargy,

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.

Daxtron2,

but the fluoride is gonna turn me into a government sleeper agent!1!!?!

Omega_Haxors,

Only if it gets in your water

muad_dibber,
@muad_dibber@lemmygrad.ml avatar

What’s really strange to me, is that for all the expertise around dentistry, AFAIK there has never been an actual evidence-based study for how long and how often you should brush and floss.

Its literally the most important piece of dental advice they could study, and no research has been done. How much plaque builds up on average when only brushing once per week, once per month? It makes me question the whole discipline and wonder if they don’t just say “brush 10 times a day” in order to sell more dental products.

Maybe they’d discover that actually you only need to brush twice a week, and floss twice a week. Maybe it ends up being flossing every day, and brushing once a month… who knows.

TonyTonyChopper,
@TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz avatar

my mouth feels nasty after half a meal so uh… twice a day or more is good for me thanks

Dr_Cog,
@Dr_Cog@mander.xyz avatar

From someone with a science background: There are a lot of expenses with that type of clinical trial.

In particular, if you’re going to assign someone to a group that is known to be unhealthy (brushing once a month) you need to pay for any dental or medical problems that arise from them not brushing.

muad_dibber,
@muad_dibber@lemmygrad.ml avatar

For sure, and they should def stop if there were any serious long-term affects, like any medical trial.

snownyte,
snownyte avatar

I go by a couple rules of thumb.

A little after drinking coffee. Why? Because it's acidic and is prone to stain your teeth.

After eating anything sugary. Why? Same thing.

I don't generally brush teeth after meals that don't consist of one or both of those things, least as often. Then it just becomes a matter of "do it for the sake of the day".

inetknght,

AFAIK there has never been an actual evidence-based study for how long and how often you should brush and floss.

The National Institute of Health has a ton of public-paid studies. Did you even bother to search it before making your astounding claim? www.nih.gov

Just one search for nih brush time shows several studies. Let me just link the top two…

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19723429/ -> “This study was undertaken to measure plaque removal during untutored brushing over timed periods between 30 and 180 seconds with”

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16355646/ -> “This review shows that there is consensus in the literature that (meticulous) tooth brushing once per day is sufficient to maintain oral health and to prevent caries and periodontal diseases. Tooth brushing is also regarded as an important vehicle for application of anti-caries agents, such as fluorides. However, most patients are not able to achieve sufficient plaque removal by performing oral hygiene measures at home. Therefore, tooth brushing twice daily is recommended by most of the dentists in order to improve plaque control.”

OP poses one question with two parts. The first study answers the time (2-3 minutes) part. The second link answers the other part (twice daily).

muad_dibber,
@muad_dibber@lemmygrad.ml avatar

Is there any way to actually see those articles? All that’s given is an abstract, and the articles don’t appear to be linked.

inetknght,

kagi.com/search?q=pubmed+download+full+text

-> www.nlm.nih.gov/oet/ed/pubmed/…/index.html

It looks like the two articles I linked don’t have free sources available. You might also search for the co-authors of the studies – for example the first author in the first study has other citations pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Creeth+JE&filte… with full text available. You could download those, obtain the author’s contact information, and send a request for a copy of the one you want. Just be nice about it :) If that doesn’t work then maybe you have a friend with a “subscription” to download such things… from school or work or… something.

Brkdncr,

That’s how much time it takes for the fluoride to take effect?

linearchaos,
@linearchaos@lemmy.world avatar

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.

pelletbucket,
@pelletbucket@lemm.ee avatar

i just go over my teeth twice with a manual brush.

danhakimi,
danhakimi avatar

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?

Bay_of_Piggies,
@Bay_of_Piggies@hexbear.net avatar

Brushing for longer has diminishing returns and hurts your gums. I’m just speculating, but it’s mostly about removing debris from your mouth and applying flouride to your teeth.

trash80,

I remember dentists telling me to brush after every meal.

saigot,

In case you are unaware current advice is to avoid brushing for a while after an acidic food or drink

otp,

“after every meal” does not mean “immediately after every meal”

peter,
@peter@feddit.uk avatar

Technically then I brush after every meal provided I don’t die after eating

trash80,

I was unaware.

jasondj,

Guidance for preschools around me is for them to brush kids teeth after every meal that’s served at school.

That was recently reinstated after being suspended for a couple years and the teachers are practically (as much as they legally can) begging the parents to sign the waivers to opt their kids out of it. I don’t blame them. It seems excessive and it’d take a ton of time for two teachers to scrub a dozen or so sets of toddler teeth, while also controlling said toddlers while they wait for everyone to finish.

Mothra,
@Mothra@mander.xyz avatar

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.

Touching_Grass,

What’s your cavity situation like

Mothra,
@Mothra@mander.xyz avatar

Zero, why?

wolf,

Thanks, good to hear, I am not the only one. :-)

HeartyBeast,
HeartyBeast avatar

Have you asked your dentist?

Maeve,

Are you aware some of us can’t afford that?

HeartyBeast,
HeartyBeast avatar

Since OP has firm views about what dentists says, I'm going to assume that they visit the dentist on occasion.

Maeve,

I’m not. I read the lit and do what I can.

otl,

Ah yeah this hits a nerve for me: the idea that some individuals are the arbiters of medical science and knowledge. Answers to questions like “why should I brush my teeth” is something to be found in a textbook, hopefully at a public library, not to be dispensed out by some individual with fat fees.

Maeve,

I still need the dental pro. I just can’t access one, currently.

GammaGames,

Are you aware that the question was not directed at you?

Maeve,

And? It’s a public discussion.

wolf,

This, so much!

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.

wolf,

Fair and good question. I literally ask my dentist on every single visit the following points

  • is my dental hygiene ok?
  • do I damage my gums with my brushing?
  • what can I improve in my dental hygiene?

The dentist always tells me it is okay and I cannot do more, than I am doing.

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