3 Reasons Why Your Family Dentist Recommends Replacing Your Toothbrush

Posted on: 11 May 2021

At least twice a day is how often you should use your toothbrush. Your family dentist will also tell you that you should replace your brush every 3-4 months or when the bristles start showing signs of discoloration, fraying, or matting. These are the key recommendations by the American Dental Association on toothbrush care.

You will want to replace your toothbrush sooner if you use it more frequently. If you always brush your teeth after having a sugary snack or after every meal, your brush will wear out sooner and need replacing. You may end up requiring family dental care should you fail to replace your toothbrush. Using an old toothbrush can cause or otherwise contribute to the following problems.

1. Allowing Plaque to Build Up

A matted toothbrush will leave behind some build-up of plaque and bacteria around your teeth. Frayed toothbrush bristles may no longer effectively clean between your teeth and along your gum line.

This plaque and bacteria build-up puts you at an increased risk of tooth decay and gum disease. You will then have to see your family dentist to handle these oral health issues you could have avoided by using a toothbrush with optimum cleaning ability.

2. Bad Breath

Food debris and the build-up of plaque and bacteria from using a worn-out brush can lead to bad breath. You shouldn't let your breath be what reminds you to replace your toothbrush.

There are, of course, other causes of bad breath, such as infections. Statistically, bad breath or halitosis ranks among the top reasons why people seek family dental care services. Stay on top of your oral hygiene, which is the leading preventer of bad breath, by brushing for at least two minutes, twice a day, with a toothbrush that's not too heavily used.

3. Damage to Soft Tissue

The bristles on a heavily used toothbrush will, over time, start detaching from the brush. If you are an overly aggressive brusher, then these bristles may get stuck between your gum or between your teeth and gums.

Should this happen, you will experience some irritation, or worse, you may end up causing some damage to your soft tissue. You may get sores or end up with an infection, for which you will need to seek the attention of your family dentist.

Your family dentist can advise on the best practices for using and replacing your toothbrush. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for the replacement of your electric toothbrush.

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About Marcel and the Dentist

Hi, my name is Marcel. Welcome to my site! I started it to help others learn about children's dentistry. Most of us don't remember dentist trips from our early childhood. Maybe we didn't even really care about our teeth until we started losing baby teeth. In my case, I became interested in children's dentistry as a young father. When my kids were young, I was a student, and our insurance did not cover visits to the dentist. Although my wife and I tried to teach our kids good hygiene on our own, it was difficult. When we we finally able to take them to the dentist, my little girls were scared and didn't know what was going on. Luckily, they appreciate the dentist now that they are older, but their first experiences helped teach me more about the importance of children's dentistry. Hopefully you can learn from my experiences!