Asklemmy

Floss and electric toothbrush, brush twice a day, works wonders. One of those brushes that make sure you brush each quarter for 30 seconds for a total of 2 minutes.

Don't eat sugar

I maintain very good dental hygiene, and my dental hygienist always loves me. These are the tips I've picked up from them as I've gone

• Use an electric toothbrush. My hygienist didn't give a recommendation, but I asked what she used and said the Philips Sonicare and really liked it. I got one for $25 on a black friday sale (normally $50 for the model I got). I'm sure plenty would work, but one that also tells you when you're pressing too hard is a very nice perk, and the timer is a must.
• Floss every day with normal string floss. Honestly, quickly disrupting the bacteria between your teeth is good most days, and then give it a really good go other days to really break things up.
• Never brush with a low pH level in your mouth. Eating anything increases the acidity in your mouth, so wait about 30 minutes before brushing. Some things increase it much more, such as soda. Wait an hour or so after drinking soda or other acidic foods/drinks before brushing. Drinking water can help normalize the pH levels faster, as well. So if you must, just swish around some water a good bit before brushing.
• Saliva is good for you. If you drink a lot of soda or eat a lot of sugary foods, stop it. But since you probably won't stop (like me) chew sugar free gum to increase saliva production to help fight the sugary-ness of it, as well as help balance the pH levels a little.
• Use alcohol free anti-cavity mouth wash. It's basically just water and fluoride, so if fluoride toothpaste doesn't hurt your mouth, you should be okay with this mouthwash.
• Make sure you're using fluoride toothpaste. It doesn't need to be fancy, I just use the cheapest fluoride toothpaste.
• Do not rinse out the toothpaste in your mouth after brushing. You want the fluoride to stay on your teeth for as long as possible. And if you do end up using flouride mouthwash, do not drink anything for at least half an hour after using it to make sure the flouride has time to work. The longer it's on your teeth, the better.
• Brush AT LEAST every night. Of course they always recommend twice a day, but if you picked one, do it before bed and not in the morning. If you don't brush before bed, the bacteria from the day will sit on your teeth all night going to work on you. I only brush at night, but the hygienists I have always say they wouldn't have known if I hadn't told them. And that's even with habitual soda drinking habits.
• Accept the fact you will get tartar build up. It's going to happen, despite your best efforts. That's why you should go to the dentist every 6 months. They will remove the tartar build up with a metal pick, but if you do everything above, it should be an easy job for them.

Consider chewing Xylitol gum after eating. Xylitol directly fucks up the bacteria that cause tooth decay. Make sure to get a brand that is mostly Xylitol (I like Pur).

However, be careful if you have a dog, because xylitol is super poisonous to dogs!

Have you tried changing your brushing technique? From my time working in a dentist's office as an assistant, its usually the brushing technique that most people get wrong. You're supposed to focus on where the teeth and gums meet.

https://youtu.be/rqAdceHE5CI?si=X7xQdoaV9llNUn4P

I recommend the first 2 from the link above. They're the most similar to how most people already brush their teeth so its an easy transition. The only real difference is you angle your toothbrush 45° away from the surface of your teeth. Doesn't matter if you angle it up or down.

I also had this issue. I was doing everything I could think of to take care of my teeth, but I’d go to the dentist and they would comment about plaque and signs of receding gums. I switched to an electric toothbrush and waterpik. I was actually able to reverse some of the recession (verified by having the dentist take measurements, not notable by just looking)

Waterpicks for me have been amazing! I got one for like 30 USD and I use it once or twice a week. It makes my teeth feel so much cleaner and I feel like they stay cleaner too. It also gets stuff stuck between your teeth instantly without having to do weird flossing gymnastics. I’ve always sucked at flossing but with the waterpick I actually use it regularly.

Get an electric toothbrush, Oral-B is great, don't feel pressured to get top of the line & Costco has a sale on mid-tier Oral-B 2-pks a few times a year. Get 2 VERY good toothbrushes + a few spare heads for $65.

I have a very specific answer that has worked for me, and I one that hasn't been said yet. 🙂 Despite prolonged attempts to stop plaque build-up, brushing extensively, mouthwashes, it kept happening. Until I got ProDentim.

I get the "real deal" from their website. It is very expensive, and they look so scammy, too. Their website has a scary countdown timer for their limited-time offer (that always resets, is always active) & they ply you to buy more post-purchase at a deeper discount. It's tacky AF, I hate it, but the product does work.

ProDentim is based on the idea of replacing the bad bacteria in your mouth with good bacteria. Get your mouth right & it can help take care of itself. It is very expensive...but I figured, so are dental problems. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ After being on ProDentim for a month, I noticed the following:

My gums are healthier, maybe a little stronger. Not swollen. I had a WEIRDLY sensitive tooth, that issue is now gone. My 'baseline' for my breath doesn't smell nearly as bad, it's all but neutral. And yes, the plaque just doesn't seem to stick around or build up. Sometimes for days or up to an entire week+ after ceasing ProDentim, yes, I stopped just because I was curious to see how long the plaque shedding would last. That & it's expensive enough, so rationing it out for effectiveness seems wise.

I talked with my friend recently. I fed it to him, too, without telling him it was "bacteria". He said, and I quote, "I feel like it's helped me as well I have no tooth pain and ya sensitivity to cold is almost gone."

If you really heavily use ProDentim & replace the active bacterial flora in your mouth, gums I can only imagine some positive effects will be more or less permanent. The bacteria in the candies become...your...mouth bacteria. If you try it please write me back & lmk what you think. 🙂

If you're still reading, here is my exact method I used: I did 2 candies instead of one, morning AND night, for a month. They say to "let the candy melt in your mouth" and that's it, I say fuck that! I paid for this bacteria, I want to get my money's worth. I let my saliva build up & fill my mouth, I swish that double dose of bacteria around my teeth & gums for 10, 20, 30 mins. Literally. I do not care, I want that bacteria to be seeded in my body, I give it time. And yeah, ever since late August when I started, my teeth feel fantastic. Even when I lax in my routine, I feel like my baseline is so solid. It's like how some people have a better mouth without trying? I think I have some of that now. I've procured & cultivated the correct mouth bacteria for that to occur.

Electric brushes usually help with that. Do go for a brand like Braun or Philips though, otherwise it's easy to end up with a toothbrush with non-existent or low-quality replacement heads. You don't need an expensive model from those brands. Those work about as well as the cheaper models and only include more frills, and their replacement heads are often more expensive too. The only feature I actually find helpful is the 30-second/2-minute timer which most models have nowadays.

I used to have this problem. I can't use wire floss because there is no gap between my teeth... I started using water flossing (basically a pressure washer for your teeth) and paired with an electric toothbrush it worked wonders.

Other notes for a better dental care routine:

• Use toothpaste with fluoride.

• If you are using the water flossing method, do it before brushing your teeth.

• Don't rinse your mouth after brushing; this is especially useful for brushing your teeth before going to sleep. Don't drink water afterwards, do it before if you want (obviously if you are feeling dehydrated, drink water, but otherwise let the fluoride do it's thing).

For a non-boring answer:

Introduce alcohol producing microbes into your mouth to replace the plaque-producing variety

(not recommended)

Have you asked your dentist?

Electric brushes (with regularly changed tips) can be amazing. There are also some inexpensive ultrasonic ones and I’m absolutely happy with mine. It’s a whole other level than handbrushes.

there is likely no way to entirely prevent it, but I have been using a sonicare for about nearly 20 years and have had 0 problems with my teeth. I cannot recommend them enough—everyone should have one.

Use a toothpaste or mouthwash containing https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chlorhexidine

You need to figure out why mouthwash peels your skin off.

That is not normal and is almost certainly related somehow to the plaque buildup.

As others have somewhat suggested maybe try some diet modifications. I also recommend going to the dentist and seeing what they have to say, everyone has different things impacting mouth health and a dentist will know how to help you the most.

The plaque forms as a result of bacteria eating the sugars that stay on your teeth. Most dentists in my life have recommended brushing right after eating.

Sonicare toothbrush, then floss, then waterpik. The kids waterpik is cheaper and does the same thing.

I'm sorry, mouthwash peels your skin off?!

Since I've been sanitizing my brush head in hydrogen peroxide after each use to avoid re-introducing bacteria into my mouth it's made a significant difference in the quality of my brushing and minimizing plaque formation. Also, the main area to aim for specifically for plaque is where the gum meets the tooth rather than just all over the tooth hitting the gum incidentally.

Electric toothbrush, don’t want to shill for a brand but Oral-B.

For me I use Phillips soniccare tooth brush which is infinitely better than a manual one. Have you tried your luck with iodine mouthwash? It's more expensive and tastes gross but it's really good for gingivitis and doesn't burn. Also if you aren't already, flossing everyday and maybe after each meal if needed is important. Floss has to be reaching below the gums to pull out the trapped food and not just in between the teeth.

While I think brushing, flossing, mouthwash all play an important role. Nobody is teaching you how to breakdown the actual problem. Besides genetics if your hygiene is sufficient. The food and drinks you consume are to blame. Bacteria are influenced from your diet. Change what you consume and your bodily systems will adjust accordingly, that being said cause and effect should be noted. Changing one system will modify others good or bad. Tailor your intakes based on the symptoms your trying to mitigate by learning how those systems work individually and then cohesively together. The fastest way albeit quite inconvenient is to log every food, drink, and consumable item that goes into your mouth each day for X number of days and find trigger foods which cause your symptoms. Analyze and extrapolate the data. Refine through trial and error. Tailor your diet to suit.