The main reason to brush is to avoid cavities. Technically if you brush and
floss REALLY well, you can actually get away with ‘once’ a day. It takes 24
hours for the bacteria to reorganize and do damage. However if you are not
brushing thoroughly and flossing, once a day will not cut it!The next reason we brush is for social reasons. No one wants to go around with food stuck in their teeth and you certainly don’t want to be caught with bad breathe. For these reasons you should floss once a day and brush after every meal. Brushing your tongue can be helpful too. Recently there has been a craze over the ‘tongue brush.’ FYI, this brush is very helpful if you have chronic bad breathe, but the results have been proven to last only 30 min. because bad breathe can also be caused by stomach problems. You may also want to add some mouth wash to your routine if you are subconscious about halitosis.
An article written by Dr. Chris Jolley for the Timpanogos Times: June 16, 2010 states –
BRUSHING YOUR TEETH IS HARMFUL TO THE ENVIROMENT
Cavity-causing bacteria live in and around your teeth. They eat sugar and other carbohydrates, and then excrete acid, which eats away at your teeth, eventually causing cavities.
By brushing and flossing your teeth, you remove the bacteria, which change the micro-environment between and around your teeth. Having been removed, the bacteria have to start over to grow in enough numbers to cause cavities.
Other things that harm the bacterial micro-environment around your teeth include the following:
*Limiting the frequency of snacks between meals
*Using fluoride in the form of toothpaste, rinses, or treatments in a dental office
*If you suffer from a dry mouth (a common side-effect of medications), keeping your mouth moist.
While some environments deserve to be protected, the bacterial micro-environment in your mouth deserves nothing more than clear-cut forestry on a twice-daily basis.
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