Toothbrushes and toothpaste - question for any present dentists.

shandyclover

Tooth brushes - does it really make a difference which ones you buy. I've been waiting buying the ones with the rubber gum massagers for hubby and I since we're both entering our 40's and we'd both like to keep our gums and teeth for as long as possible. We also both have an electric one - we alternate using the manual and the electric. For the kids I buy any decent brand with small head. Today I went in to my local super market for a new one for my 13 year old and they had nothing but an all bells and whistles very expensive brand name job or the bog standard supermarket own multi pack. My daughter annialates toothbrushes and needs a new one about every 6 weeks so I bought the multipack, then felt like a bad mother for economising on her oral health!

Toothpaste - I've another daughter that has a problem with tooth enamel. She was born with teeth with very little enamel (well not born with teeth, but you know what I mean) we've been buying her an expensive brand of toothpaste thats promising to re harden the enamel with liquid calcium etc.etc.

Anyways I wondered if there were any resident dentists who could share their oppinions - are expensive oral hygine products really worth it or are we just falling for flash advertising. Seems to me a new kind of toothbrush or toothpast technology hits the markets every 6 mos and though I will definitely lay out money if I feel it will make a difference, I've no intention of just blindly buying the latest.

BitterAndTwisted

What does you dentist advise?

Toothsmith

One of the cheaper rechargable Braun Oral Bs is as good a toothbrush as anybody needs. They have the same brush speed, and take the same heads as the more expensive 'whistles and bells' Oral Bs further up the range.

Personally I wouldn't bother with anything other than an Oral B electric one (I'm not in their employ). The others are not as good.

Avoid ultrasonics as well - they're much more expensive, and not as good.

I would also avoid cheap manual toothbrushes. The bristles won't be anywhere near as good quality as the more established brands.

If your daughter's going through them that quick, then she's pushing on too hard. Does your dental practice do Oral Hygiene instruction? Might be worth a session with a hygienist.

As for toothpaste, so long as it has at least 1300ppm fluoride in it, then it'll be doing a good job.

My personal favorite at the moment is Sensodyne Pronamel. That's an enamel remineralising one. For kids, there's plenty of calcium and phosphate in their salliva, so a toothpaste with good fluoride release is the most important thing for kids. Pronamel would be good here too.

brook2jack

and remember only floss the teeth you want to keep.

shandyclover

Thanks Toothsmith your advice has been duly noted and is much appreciated. We live in Ireland where we don't have NHS dentists, though the children do get seen for free until they are 16, the appointments seem quite rushed so I've never really been able to ask.

The daughter with the tooth enamel problem is 18 and can't eat dairy so she takes calcium - I hope that means she still has enough calcium in her saliva. I'll get her the pro enamel toothpaste next shop.

Just so happens hubby and I have the Braun Oral B electric brushes - his is oscillating, mine is sonic - I don't know why but I think his works better. We found them on a half price sale in a tiny chemist, had a mad frenzy calling all our MSE friends and ended up buying 7 of them!

elfen

I use the pronamel one, and it's really helped my teeth, especially where I've had fillings too, its making the good ones left stronger and helping the holes stay small!

I always use a Colgate or Oral B toothbrush, as the cheaper ones make my gums bleed like crazy! shandy, can your daughter have goat's milk...(also lactose intolerant but can have this as the level of lactose is small) and it has a decent amount of calcium in

shandyclover

Good point elfen, I'll try the goats milk when she gets home - she's off in Australia for 6 mos volunteering, but due to come home next month. She's not exactly allergic, just avoiding dairy keeps her asthma from flaring up. Thanks for the tip.

ailuro2

I'm no dentist, but I'd say get your DD an Oral B, they're all on half price at the moment, my DD has had one since she was old enough and she's 11 now and hasn't had so much as a filling or fissure seal done. I know the heads are meant to be changed every 3 months but I find ours take a lot longer to lose their indicator colours on the bristles.

http://www.boots.com/en/Philips-Rechargeable-Sensiflex-Lime-Electric-Toothbrush-HX1620_44052/ quick flick through Boots shows this one just under £15. Less than the price of a filling.

DH refuses to use an electric brush, says he doesn't like them, but he is very thorough about cleaning his teeth. He uses mouthwash too, but I don't like it and am not convinced it does what it claims on the tin.:p

We use the Arm and Hammer enamel toothpaste but I'm not convinced it's helping much. DD gets whatever toothpaste she fancies when it's time for another tube (she's on a tin of Aquafresh at the moment)

Keeping_Motivated

Sorry no advice to give but this thread made me wonder how old DD has to be before I can let her use my electric toothbrush?

terra_ferma

My dentist and hygienist both recommend Phillips Sonicare, as they say they clean better.
However.... when they did I had just bought a battery operated one (Colgate Actibrush £7.99 in supermarkets, books, superdrugs, argos etc) because when I had an electric one I found it a pain as I don't have anywhere to charge it in the bathroom, and always ended up with flat batteries.

Well, they have been complimenting me on the cleanlinesses of my teeth, both of them! (well not both the only two teeth I have... both the dentist and hygienist...;))

If it helps, they have also been recommending interdental brushes:
http://www2.tepe.com/en/products/interdental-brushes/
(choose a thinner one to start with and work your way up)

Material_Girl_2

Do you all by mouthwash? I do buy it but always wonder if it actually does anything as no Dentist has ever recommended, or in fact even mentioned, using moutwash. Is it just a waste of money if I brush and floss or does it have any health benefits for my gums or teeth?