5 of the Most Common Oral Hygiene Mistakes

Dental health is as important as the health of other body parts.

Disturbances with your mouth can have wide-ranging consequences for your overall health, deprive you of the ability to eat your favorite foods, and shatter your confidence if things become too severe (and you lose teeth).

While you may be concerned about your oral health, you might be making some basic dental hygiene mistakes unknowingly, which is fine because all of us make mistakes.



However, what’s not acceptable is the negligence of symptoms like tooth pain, which may mean the disease process has reached all the way to the pulp. The pulp is the central part of the tooth and has nerve endings.

If you experience tooth pain, you should immediately report it to a dentist — preferably an endodontist , which is a dental professional specialized in diseases of the pulp.

But for now, let’s discuss some basic oral hygiene mistakes, so you can avoid visiting an endodontist altogether.

1. Not brushing at night

We all brush in the morning to get rid of bad breath. But not many of us brush at night. After a long, tiring day, getting out of bed to brush your teeth is the last thing you want to do.

But you should know that brushing at night is even more important than brushing in the morning. The night is the perfect time for bacteria in your mouth to have a party. You have residual debris from what you ate the entire day and your saliva production is decreased.

Unlike gut bacteria , mouth bacteria are harmful. Saliva normally washes the bacteria away but during the night, reduced saliva allows bacteria to munch on food particles and release acid. Acid damages the teeth and if this process continues for long, you can develop significant tooth decay.



Importantly, this doesn’t mean you should stop brushing in the morning and start brushing at night. You must brush at least two times a day — both morning and night.

2. Having the wrong brushing methodology

Even if you brush two times a day, a wrong brushing technique means your efforts are going to waste (and you’re still at high risk for developing the dental disease).

One of the most common mistakes people make while brushing is using the wrong toothbrush size. Your toothbrush needs to be small enough to access all the areas of your mouth. If it’s too large, a small area inside the mouth will get neglected and disease can develop there.

Using linear, horizontal strokes is also a very common mistake. Experts recommend using small, circular strokes for the best cleaning.

Finally, two brushing mistakes that can actually harm your teeth include using hard bristles and applying too much pressure. So make sure to buy a toothbrush with soft bristles and apply gentle pressure while brushing to get the maximum benefit.

3. Believing brushing is all there is to oral hygiene

Many people think brushing (and flossing) is all they need to do when it comes to oral hygiene, which is wrong.



Oral hygiene should be tackled holistically and your eating habits play a huge role in a holistic approach. If you eat too many sugary (and sticky) foods, you’re inviting bacteria to wreak havoc inside your mouth by producing extra acid.

Some sugary foods are difficult to remove, which means even brushing won’t save you from their harmful effects.

Especially harmful for teeth are sugary drinks, which are ubiquitous these days. Replacing them with drinks like green tea is a good idea. If it’s too hard to let go, consider the use of a straw because it minimizes the contact between your teeth and the drink.

Smoking is another habit that may seem normal to you but is extremely damaging to your teeth. The nicotine and tar in smoke damage the teeth and in some cases, the gums too. Smokers are also at an increased risk for mouth cancer.

Remember, it’s almost impossible to maintain good oral hygiene and continue smoking at the same time.

Another bad habit when it comes to oral hygiene is not drinking enough water. Drinking insufficient water not only puts you at risk for medical conditions like renal stones but also deprives you of fluoride, which is essential for cavity prevention.

4. Buying shady toothpaste

Not all toothpaste is created equal. Some are made by companies that are approved by a reputable, government regulatory body while others are not.

And it’s important to buy toothpaste from a reputable and certified company. The regulatory body differs according to location but the bottom line remains the same — you get high-quality toothpaste with a minimum amount of therapeutic substances needed for good oral health.

Even within well-reputed companies, there are different kinds of toothpaste and each provides maximum benefit to people with a certain dental condition.



For example, some types of toothpaste are good at keeping inflammation low and these can be helpful for people with cavities.

Your best bet at finding the ideal toothpaste for yourself is to talk to your dentist. But know that your toothpaste should always contain fluoride. Research has shown that toothpaste that comes without fluoride is ineffective against tooth decay.

5. Avoiding flossing because you “just can’t”

Flossing is as important as brushing. Surprised? Then you might be neglecting a very important tool for maintaining good oral hygiene. That’s because, unlike brushing, flossing gets rid of the bacteria between your teeth.

If left alone, these bacteria can slowly build up and cause significant damage to your teeth.



Some people stop flossing because their gums bleed. Bleeding gums mean the bacteria have caused significant damage to them and are a reason to floss even more regularly instead of letting it go. If your gums bleed too much, however, visit a dentist.

Elderly people with arthritis and young children struggle with flossing the most. If you’re young, you should know that your flossing technique will improve with practice, and not giving up is the most important thing. If you have arthritis, ask your dentist about flossers that are easier to use.

---