How to Clean Your Teeth

Video Transcript

"I'm Dr. Donald Gossett. I am an oral and maxillofacial surgeon. I have training in dentistry and specialty training in maxillofacial surgery. Today we are going to speak about some fairly general aspects of general dentistry and possibly specialized dentistry and hopefully be able to educate you a little better on some of those topics. We are going to talk about how to clean your teeth. Cleaning your teeth is a critical aspect of general hygiene and it also manifests itself in a lot of systemic problems if you don't do it effectively and properly. The best way to clean your teeth is to first floss your teeth. That is where you take the dental string either using a mechanical device or just taking the string and wrapping it around your fingers, going in between each tooth and flossing in between them. A toothbrush and a water pick dos not give you the kind of mechanical advantage that you need to disrupt or remove a particulate matter on the teeth, for that reason you have to floss first. Secondly you use a good dentist and if you have the opportunity to do so a mechanical toothbrush is ideal. It is very efficient and you spent about five to six seconds per tooth in the area both on the inside and the outside and the top of the teeth. You do this all the way around and then at the end if you feel like you need to wash or rinse or brush you can use any of the mouth rinses or whatever else or a Water Pick if you would like to remove any added debris. If you do this daily you'll find your body systems are going to be much healthier. It is well noted that heart disease is certainly effected by chronic periodontal disease and you are at much greater risk of atherosclerosis. These are the ways that you take care of your teeth. This is Dr. Donald Gossett. I hope you enjoyed the information to the point to where you may pursue dentistry or you may pursue the benefits of some of the treatment alternatives."