[IMA-HelenT]

A: “Plaque typically collects along the gumline; the margin between the tooth and the gingiva. This starts building after any food enters the mouth.

We all know that brushing and rinsing the mouth is important to keep plaque levels down. The key to effectively cleaning teeth is most importantly your brushing technique. There’s brushing and then there’s brushing.

I am not talking about forceful brushing, far from that.

Our bodies have many hardwired protective-defensive reflexes that help preserve integrity without conscious thought. A perfect example of this is the orbicularis oris muscle that surrounds the mouth and forms the lips. When something contacts the mouth/lips, a toothbrush in this case, there is a rapid involuntary contraction of the orbicularis oris and related perioral muscles, as a defensive response.

When brushing, with a regular soft toothbrush, it may feel like you are brushing your teeth thoroughly, but the gumline is loaded with plaque no matter how much you brush using your upward & downward rolling methods your hygienist showed you.

Now reread about the defensive-protective reflexes and try brushing using the “ 2 handed”” brushing technique.

Let me explain. As you brush your teeth with one hand, while looking at yourself in the mirror, use your other hand to hold down your lower lip while brushing your lower teeth and hold up your upper lip while brushing your upper teeth. This exercise overrides the defensive pursing of your lips. You are now able to approach your teeth without the lips interfering. You will also preserve the gingival contours around your teeth by releasing the lip from pressuring the toothbrush against your gums as you put it in your mouth.

Have a look at your teeth. If you are right handed you will notice a subtle difference in the gumline of your incisors & cuspid on the opposite (left) side. It will be higher than the right side. Start doing the “”2 handed”” brushing technique to stop this progressing.

To complete your plaque removal after brushing, floss between all your teeth to remove build up that can be quite extensive.

Having a white coated tongue, even after brushing your tongue, may be due to mildly irritated slightly elongated papillae that prevents cleaning beyond the surface layer. In this case, it is a good idea to try a dedicated tongue scraper to do a deeper cleaning. If the white coating persists, this is a signal to look at underlying habits, your diet or medicines, even how you sleep, in order to identify what may be causing a bacterial overgrowth on your tongue. “

Link to the webinar: https://imahealth.org/oral-medicine-the-missing-link-in-whole-body-health/