We just returned from a trip to the mainland and, although we prefer to shop at small, local food shops, while traveling we did end up shopping at Whole Foods Market some during the trip.
While there, I noticed a fun marketing sign that read, “Treat your body like it belongs to someone you love”.
Going with this Whole Foods slogan, an alternative title to this article could be ‘How to brush your teeth like you want to keep them in your mouth for the rest of your life’. But then I realized that it would be too long of a title, so I scrapped it. 🙂
Brushing our teeth on a daily (or twice or thrice) basis is one of the foundational practices necessary to navigate to optimal oral health. And you’re right when you think, ‘Uh, isn’t that pretty self evident, Will?”
But how we brush our teeth is of critical importance to whether we will create a positive impact on the health of our teeth and gums or cause damage in the long run. And, even more important than how we brush is why we brush.
In this article, we explore the 4 reasons why we should regularly brush our teeth.
The bottom line with brushing our teeth is to understand the various reasons why brushing supports greater oral health. Without a clear understanding why brushing is so important, we will lack a full understanding of how to best navigate the path to optimal oral health.
1. Brush to remove plaque from the teeth
This one is the most widely known reason why we brush our teeth. If we allow plaque to accumulate on the teeth, we are inviting the ‘bad bugs’ implicated with tooth decay to erode the tooth enamel.
This process, called acid dissolution, is one of the factors that causes tooth decay. However, like we point out in our free video tutorial series, The 5 Steps to a Healthy Mouth, acid dissolution from plaque on the teeth is only one of the causes of tooth decay. The balance of minerals in our blood play another foundational role whether our teeth are prone to decay or resistant to decay. To learn more about how to make our teeth super resistant to decay, check out our article ‘Why do teeth decay’.
To read more about how acid dissolution damages tooth enamel and what you can do about it, check out our articles ‘How to drink kombucha and not destroy your teeth’ and ‘Tracking your saliva pH: How to know you are heading in the right direction’. (Clearly I didn’t take my own advice on lengthy titles earlier in my blogging carrier.)
2. Brush to disrupt and disorganize the ‘bad bugs’ implicated with gum disease.
Anyone who has been following our work has a clear understanding of the critical importance of disrupting and disorganizing the bad bugs related to gum disease. As we explain in our video ‘How to brush your teeth to reduce gum disease’, the Bass brushing technique does a great job to keep the bad bugs from being able to colonize and organize their attack on our bodies.
When we combine knowing how to brush to reduce gum disease with the proper brush, amazing positive change can occur. Not only will our teeth feel the cleanest they’ve ever felt from brushing but we will also keep the bad bugs disrupted.
The process the bad bugs use to undermine our oral health (and whole body wellness) is to organize along and under the gum line, colonize this area and build protective ‘battlements’ to keep us from being able to interrupt their dirty work. We know these ‘protective fortresses’ as calculus and tartar.
By regularly disrupting and disorganizing their colonization efforts, we keep the bad bugs from being able to build their protective cover and establish their ‘enemy inside the gates’ point of attack on our systems. (Sorry for the wartime analogy, but in this instance, it’s not even an analogy and is just plain and simple microbiology.)
3. Brush to stimulate your gums
Ok, stick with us here. We’re heading out on a limb… 🙂
Stimulating our gums brings into play a universal principle we call ‘use it or lose it’.
We see the ‘use it or lose it’ principle everywhere. Muscle tissue diminishes if not exercised. Cognitive function declines if not stimulated. Bone density drops if the bones aren’t stressed.
We discuss this principle in our article on ‘Options if you have a missing tooth’ because the jaw bone under where a person is missing a tooth is more prone to breaking down because it’s not getting worked by having a tooth put demand on it.
Bottom line, our gum tissue needs to be stimulated if we want it to stay around to support our teeth for the rest of our lives.
4. Brush to massage your gums.
Brushing our teeth to massage the gum tissue activates yet another universal truth. This truth is every living tissue benefits from massage.
Let’s face it. Everything loves loving touch. It doesn’t matter if we are talking about a dog, a cat, your feet, a house plant or your gums, science has clearly shown that every living tissue responds positively to loving touch.
You might be asking, “What’s the difference between stimulating the gums and massaging them?” Well, let’s see if we can provide a real life example of the difference.
Have you ever felt the difference between your significant other mindlessly rubbing your feet while watching a movie compared to them massaging your feet with intention focused on helping your feet feel awesome? That’s the difference between stimulating the tissue and giving it loving massage.
Giving your gums a loving massage takes focused attention, whereas we can stimulate the gum line without giving them any love. 🙂
What’s the catch to this?
We have to apply what we call conscious brushing. You see, if we just go about the same unconscious brushing habits we’ve been doing for most of our lives (remember how we explain this in our video with the cute kids about brushing?), if we brush unconsciously, we’re not going to be doing it in the loving manner that’s ideal.
So, the next time you brush, keep in mind the several reasons why we brush our teeth to help you gain maximum benefit of this habit most of our culture does unconsciously.
Also, if you’re ready to take your oral health to the next level and gain a complete understanding of how to stop tooth decay and reverse cavities, feel free to check out our Shine Remineralizing Tooth Whitening Powder and download our FREE resource guide, “How to Remineralize Your Teeth”.
Helpful, related resources:
How to brush your teeth to reduce gum disease (video)
Why do teeth decay (article)
5 steps to a healthy mouth (free video series)
How to drink kombucha and NOT destroy your teeth (article)
Tracking your saliva pH: How to know you are heading in the right direction (article)
Options if you have a missing tooth (article)
I’m a bit confused. In this article, you say that we need to brush to remove all plaque. But in another article you say that not all plaque is bad. So…..? Am I brushing to make sure that every single patch of plaque is removed (which I find very difficult to do with your Bass toothbrush- especially where the mouth curves toward the front teeth. Or is it okay to leave a bit of plaque?
Great question Valerie!
Thanks for stopping by to ask…
Here’s the thing. If you can feel the plaque on your teeth, it’s thick enough to cause trouble. Your teeth should feel squeaky clean to the touch with your tongue. This is particularly true if the plaque feels rough to the tongue. We hope to have a new video on how to clean our teeth completed soon. It will help by providing strategies how to get to all the trouble spots with our Bass toothbrush. I hope it will help you with your challenge spots!
Disrupting the bad bugs: This means, I think, to interfere with their life cycles, by
1) destroying their nesting places and
2) introducing antimicrobial substances into their environment
Disruptions also means wash millions of them gently away.
One aspect of this disruption would be to soften and remove, or perhaps even dissolve tartar naturally. Does anyone have real experience in accomplishing this at home?
UPDATE: I have had several dental exams since May 2016. On a couple of them I asked the dental assistant to scrape the tartar off of 2-3 select teeth. I have not had that sort of “cleaning” in almost 40 years.
On most of the half-dozen teeth so treated, the calculus scraped off quite easily, leaving the hygienists somewhat surprised at the resulting smoothness. Not all, and the exceptions were the bottom incisors.
I have only once noticed calculus spontaneously “flake” off. Still hoping and expecting more of that. The majority of my 68 year old gum pockets are better than they were 2 years ago, with gum regrowth documented in several teeth. My dentist friend and his hygienist originally said that does not (would not) happen. Swollen, bleeding gums are almost completely a thing of the past, even with gum pocket probing. Bone loss above one front tooth has not worsened, but has not noticeably improved.
Overall, I am very happy with the results of my somewhat minimalistic application of the dental care strategies advocated by Will and Susan. However, I have also learned through sad experience that, even with a low sugar, low animal protein diet, if I don’t mindfully bass brush at least twice daily and GPS (gum pocket syringe) several times per week, gains are lost.
In health, as in politics, the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
Will and Susan’s repeated use of the word “conscious” is key. The medical literature has well over 100 peer reviewed articles and double-blind studies on the power of “healing intention.” Our conscious intentions change the way we do things while we are doing them. Additionally, there is strong quantum evidence that our intentions change the things themselves.
I am convinced that, if we remind ourselves regularly of the 4 reasons why we brush, our results will be better. Perhaps post them on the bathroom mirror in a small and lovely way.
Hi Wil,
Hope you and your family had a lovely Thanksgiving! I just heard about ionic toothbrushes from my sister in Wales. I came to your site to see if you had written about them, and then, in doing a bit of research I found this: http://www.ijdr.in/article.asp?issn=0970-9290;year=2006;volume=17;issue=2;spage=74;epage=7;aulast=Deshmukh and this: https://youryuckymouth.com/usa/faq/research-and-patents/
I am curious to hear your thoughts,
Much aloha,
Tewa
Aloha Tewa! 😉
Thanks for stopping by to ask here. We are honored to be part of your journey to greater oral health.
There are many types of ‘new and improved’ brushes on the market. We don’t have any personal experience specifically on the ones you reference here.
While I think that the novel new brushes with their technical ‘advantages’ all have their place. Whether they use ionic devices like the ones you reference here or silver embedded in the brush head (for antimicrobial benefit), they all will help to an extent.
All these are focused on ‘what’ we use to brush our teeth. And it’s an important question to ask and ponder.
Here’s another thread…
We have found that what we brush with is less important than how we brush. In other words, I would agree to a head to head comparison of plaque counts in my mouth (using my very low tech Bass brush) to any other fancy toothbrush. Here’s why…
I do my best to bring my conscious attention to the act of brushing my teeth. This factor of ‘how we brush’ has a HUGE impact on the end result. The bottom line is if we brush our teeth unconsciously, regardless of what tool we use to clean our teeth, the result isn’t going to be what’s possible if we consciously address how we brush AND what we brush with.
That said, I’ll bring some brushes with me so the next time I run into you I can give you some of our ‘low tech, but effective’ Bass brushes!
Thanks again for stopping by to ask us here. We are honored to be a part of your journey!
Don’t know what happened there Will but only a fraction of my reply got posted! I just wondered if you could give me your opinion on whether or not the titanium rod technology actually works or not or if I I am just being sold a good sales pitch?!!! Also I was wondering if you would recommend the use of xylitol mastic chewing gum as part of a holistic daily health care routine for teeth and gums, as highly recommended on another holistic site on healing teeth naturally?
Many thanks again for your reply and your time and consideration.
Warmest Regards
Trudy
Aloha Trudy,
Thank you for reaching out to us. Hmm, I don’t think we have written specifically on the long term safety of titanium rods for implants. I think one of our articles on root canals, yes, the one about ‘options if you have a missing tooth’ has some info there.
We aren’t fans of this technology and consider zirconia rods to be a much more viable long term option.
Re: xylitol gum, I think there is a place for xylitol gum. Just make sure that your digestive system is fine with the amount you will invariably ingest chewing xylitol based gum. Watch for fullness, bloating and gas which would suggest bacterial overgrowth in the belly from the xylitol.
We hope that helps!
Thanks again,so much for your reply Will, but there has been some confusion here with my question. I was referring to the ionic rod used in my toothbrush not for implants!!! Do you know if using a toothbrush with light activated ionic rod is really effective at breaking down the tartar as is claimed? This is the brush I am currently using, no toothpaste of any kind required. Works or not or am I just being taken in by a good sales pitch? Hope you are understanding the query now?
Thanks again Will – brilliant site – love it!
Kindest Regards
Trudy
Aloha Trudy,
Ah, thanks for clarifying!
We haven’t really researched all the various forms of brushes on the market. I’m familiar with the technology and honestly have been a bit dubious of their claims. Perhaps check for evidence from them? Do they have any clinical trials that show the efficacy of their brushes?
I hope this helps! Thanks for the kind words of support!
Hi – I just found your site,via a link on face book,from wellness mama.com – I love it !!! Thank you so much. I have a question for you. About two years ago now, on my mission to be as healthy as possible and eliminate as many toxins and chemicles as possible, I stopped using commercial toothpaste and mouthwash. I now make my own mouthwash with organic essential oils, I brush occasionally with activated charcoal and other than that I don’t use any paste at all anymore. I tried tooth blotting and purchased all the brushes but just could not get on with it at all and it was so time consuming. I then changed to a ionic toothbrush, which contains a light activated ionic rod in the handle of the brush. The idea is it actually disintegrates the plague.And herein lies my question!! What is your opinion on these toothbrushes? I have looked at the price for a bass brush here in the UK and they are very pricey, especially if they frequently need replacing like normal brushes. Plus, you also recommend having more than one at a time and rotating them for hygiene reasons – this makes it quite an investment!!! The good thing about the ionic ones is that the handle with the rod in it lasts for life!!! Making it more economical , as, after the initial outlay of around £18.00 you then only need to buy replacement heads which clip on. Why would I, or should I, consider changing to a bass brush from my ionic one in your opinion? I would be very interested in your comments on this brush. If you would like to look up the ionic brush I purcased mine from an on line site called red23.
Many thanks for your time and consideration and your wonderful web site.
Kindest Regards
Trudy
Aloha Trudy,
Thank you for stopping by to ask us.
While I can’t directly answer your questions about whether you should switch brushes and strategies, I can speak to the fact that the Bass brush is very effective when used with the correct brushing technique.
Also, please note that our brushes are much cheaper when purchased in bundles. While the international shipping does raise the price substantially, if you purchased several brushes at once, you’d spread that shipping fee over all the brushes and bring the cost per brush down significantly.
We hope that helps. 🙂
Brushing reduces the number of bacteria in your mouth and removes the sugars that are food for the bacteria, reducing the possibility that the bacteria will multiply to dangerous levels.
It happened that I went 4 1/2 years without seeing the dentist, by just plainly forgetting to go. It turns out that I do not brush my teeth very often (maybe one time a week) and never floss. Most may think this is gross and negligent but to my credit I did not have any cavities and my gums were healthy! I do attribute it to what I put in my mouth and avoid lots of sugar. Of course I do not recommend this to everyone but it really proves that what you feed your body can definitely show up in or on parts of your body. (Every tooth goes to an organ in the body – so if that organ is in good health so is the tooth connected to it). Just saying!
Aloha Katie,
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your experience with us. We’re sure most of the people who read your comment here will wish they had your genetic momentum. 🙂
We completely agree with you that diet and lifestyle factors play a HUGE role in the support and/or decline of our oral health. Yep, we’re on point with you regarding the tooth/organ relationship. You can find our ‘meridian tooth chart’ on our site here.
A related, and I think parallel phenomenon, is the evidence we saw this year that bugs will not munch on healthy fruits and veggies. Last year I found information that many, perhaps most insect herbivores cannot digest sugars. A brixmeter will show that healthier produce contains not only more minerals, but also more sugar.
Hence, I think, the benefit of our innate love affair with sweet.
This year we saw our first evidence of this. We have been building our backyard garden soil for over a decade. No pesticides, extra minerals, compost and manure. This summer our peach tree delivered the biggest, most beautiful peaches we’ve seen in the Okanagan valley. There were some earwigs on the tree, and little black fecal evidences of their visits on some of the fruit, but almost none had been bitten into, even though we waited until they were absolutely ripe before tugging them off the tree.
I have observed as a chiropractor over the past 30 years that good food and mindful motion induce better health and enhanced immunity. I think our peaches, Kate’s experience, and the Revaks’ research confirm that.