Henderson, NV | How To Properly Brush and Floss Your Teeth | Michaela Tozzi, DMD

Dr. Michaela Tozzi: Odds are you probably went to the dentist recently, you got your teeth cleaned and they feel amazing, and they sent you packing with some toothbrush and some floss in your little goodie bag. Most likely, they didn't show you how to properly use these tools. I'm Doc Tozzi, and here's the tea.

Dr. Michaela Tozzi: Well, there's no need to fear, because today I'm going to show you the right way how to brush and floss your teeth properly to keep that smile nice and healthy. Before we get into it, make sure you subscribe to my channel, like my videos, and please be sure to leave me a comment below and let me know your thoughts.

Dr. Michaela Tozzi: When my patients come in and I ask them how they're brushing their teeth, most of them say they just kind of go back and forth like this. This is a problem because your teeth aren't flat, okay, they're rounded. There's a lot of surface area to cover and it's a little bit technique sensitive. What you want to do, get back, start either upper right, upper left, small circles, okay? Make sure you follow the contours of each tooth. Again, teeth aren't flat, they're rounded. All the way around the top, all the way around the inside, same thing. A lot of us tend to neglect the tongue sides of our teeth, so make sure you show them a little bit of TLC, extra TLC. Last but not least, you don't want to forget the tops of your teeth on the top and bottom.

Dr. Michaela Tozzi: Another question I get is, well, how long should I brush my teeth? Ideally, two minutes is a good gauge. If you're brushing two minutes, but you're not brushing the right way, it doesn't really make a whole bunch of difference. Again, technique sensitive, two minutes, but make sure you're doing it properly.

Dr. Michaela Tozzi: How do you properly floss? Well, if you think about it, each tooth has five surfaces. If you're just brushing your teeth, you're only brushing three out of the five surfaces. That's why flossing is so important. You don't just do it when you get a piece of meat stuck in between your teeth. It's something you should be doing on a daily basis and be doing it properly. When I floss my teeth, what I like to do is I like to start from the upper right, work my way around all the way to the upper left, drop down to the lower left and work my way around to the lower right. I like to wrap it around my fingers and get in there and almost make a C format, all right? That ensures that you're cleaning both sides of those two teeth that are contacting each other. Again, it's not just pop it in, pop it out. There's a little bit of a technique that goes along with it, and I'll show you that in just a second.

Dr. Michaela Tozzi: For now, what I recommend using for toothbrushes is I always say an automatic toothbrush is better than manual. No matter how well we think we're doing with just an old school manual toothbrush, nothing can compete with an automatic toothbrush. It doesn't even have to be one with all the bells and whistles and the apps and all this and that is as long. As you're using it properly, automatic is the way to go.

Dr. Michaela Tozzi: Use these tips to conquer every day with a healthy and clean smile. If you want more health and beauty tips, I've got one favor to ask. Be sure to subscribe to my channel, like this video and follow me on Instagram, @DrMichaelaTozzi. Until next time, keep that grill clean.