Essay On Toothbrushing

Teeth have been big news lately. First, there was the issue of whether flossing really helps lower the risk for tooth decay and gingivitis.

And now, questions about how often we really need to get dental X-rays have made the news.

The bottom line is that, clinically, these are complex issues that can 't easily be reduced to a simple sound bite.

Maybe it 's time to take a step back and talk about something we can all agree on – toothbrushing.

As a dentist, educator and clinical researcher (an academic dentist sounds so, well, dismissive), I was involved in a very small study, conducted in India, that examined whether taking a smart phone video selfie might help people learn to brush their teeth in a more effective manner.

Well, can it help? Short answer: Maybe. Longer answer: It 's complicated, too.

Pay attention to all tooth surfaces, including the cheek side, the tongue side and the biting surface of each tooth.

Sharing the selfie – with your dentist

While ours is very a preliminary study, it opens a door.

But keep in mind; it 's not just the taking of the selfie alone. You will need to review it with your dentist or dental hygienist to get tips on how to improve and on the most important things to work on. Over time, this new, more effective brushing style could become your default habit. But then, you may need another selfie every so often, to make sure that you 're not slipping back into old habits.

An application of the toothbrushing selfie is that technology could be used to evaluate, monitor and permit providers to give real-time, convenient oral hygiene feedback to people across periods of time. This can help put a greater emphasis on prevention, which, at a minimum, should promote good dental checkups and could help keep costs