Is a Toothbrush with Hard Bristles Giving Your Teeth a Better Clean?
Posted on 8/24/2020 by Dr. Saklofsky
The relatively greater scrubbing power of hard-bristled toothbrushes make them more ideal than soft-bristled toothbrushes for certain purposes – but definitely not for regular brushing. Hard-bristled toothbrushes are more effective for removing hard stains and cleaning dentures and other restorations. But if you use them regularly for brushing your teeth, you could be scrubbing out more than just debris and plaque buildup. You could be chipping away at your enamel and soft gum tissues, exposing dentition to myriads of problems.
How Hard-Bristled Brushes Can Damage your Teeth
As with sugary foods and drinks, tobacco, and alcohol, the regular use of hard-bristled toothbrush can be quite detrimental to your oral health. But while most of these foods and drinks mostly affect your teeth, hard-bristled brushes reach further into your gumline, abrading its softer outer tissues to expose sensitive parts of the teeth.
Indeed, hard-bristled brushes have a greater capacity to remove debris and plaque compared to softer place, but so also a greater capacity to erode the outer layers of the gums and teeth. The outcome could be worse depending on factors such as the intensity of the brushing strokes, how often you brush, and the hardness of the bristles.
How to Pick Toothbrushes with the Right Bristles Texture
Even though hard-bristled toothbrushes do a better job of removing hard plaque buildup and stains, we would still not recommend you bring them anywhere close to your mouth. It's almost inevitable to just chip away at your gumline and enamel when using them. We'd rather recommend other better alternatives for cleaning and whitening your teeth. We'll always recommend soft- or medium-bristled toothbrushes for regular oral care for everyone.
Vowing now to stop yourself dead in the track of using a hard-bristled toothbrush? Call our staff today or visit our office and let's help guide you through your transition to soft-bristled brushes and nip any issues that may have developed due to using the wrong type of toothbrush for you current situation.
Dentist Tigard, OR | Dental Blog - Lincoln Center Smiles Dr. Saklofsky has created an educational blog as a resource for our patients. If you like an article or the dental blog in general please share it to social media, then call (971) 317-9499 to make an appointment. Lincoln Center Smiles, 10500 SW Greenburg Rd, Suite 3, Portland, OR 97223-1406 \ (503) 598-0898 \ sakdental.com \ 9/29/2024 \ Page Keywords: dentist Tigard OR \
The relatively greater scrubbing power of hard-bristled toothbrushes make them more ideal than soft-bristled toothbrushes for certain purposes – but definitely not for regular brushing. Hard-bristled toothbrushes are more effective for removing hard stains and cleaning dentures and other restorations. But if you use them regularly for brushing your teeth, you could be scrubbing out more than just debris and plaque buildup. You could be chipping away at your enamel and soft gum tissues, exposing dentition to myriads of problems.