Life with Chronic Conditions: Dry Brushing Works!

In April, I wrote a post on Affordable Dental Care. 

Having just been through dental hell-two teeth pulled and a new crown-I had an appointment with a new hygienist. She basically said use fluoride toothpaste sparingly (she doesn’t use any) and instead use a fluoride mouthwash, but most importantly “dry brush.” Basically that means you brush your teeth without using toothpaste. It gets rid of the plaque, the build up of which leads to decay, better than brushing with toothpaste.  Plaque is the sticky film that coats teeth and contains bacteria.  

 

I followed her recommendations to the letter. For the last seven months, in the morning I dipped a Gum flosser in fluoride mouthwash and made sure I carefully flossed between each tooth. This was followed by dry brushing, which I do while walking around my house, and then brushed my teeth with the fluoride mouthwash, with a final rinse with the remaining mouth wash. Yeah, it takes about 10 minutes, but combining the brushing with other activities makes it go quicker-my hygienist watches the news and a friend does it while she showers. In the evening, I use my electric tooth brush and a drop of fluoride toothpaste before going to bed. I sometimes dry bush with the electric toothbrush first before using the toothpaste. 

 

This past week I had my appointment with the hygienist. Almost no plague or tartar and very healthy gums. A+ appointment. My hygienist assured me that If I continue this regiment, my need for dental care will be significantly reduced. Since money is always an issue, ten minutes a day seems like a good investment of my time to reduce the need to spend thousands on crowns, filings, to say nothing of avoiding "white knuckle" dental visits.

 

Bottom line: Dry brushing works. Check out Affordable Dental Care for more tips, as well as the video on correct “dry brushing.