If you use a manual toothbrush, you will be familiar with the statement that you should change your toothbrush every three months. It may be something you see displayed at a dental surgery when you go for an appointment, among other places. But is it true? Some might think this is just a ruse to get people to spend more money buying toothbrushes. Cynical people might think dentists have shares in toothbrush manufacturers and thus a vested interest. But, it is true. You really should change it that often. The main reasons were explained in a video by American dental...

There are some makers of dental care products that are so ubiquitous and long-lasting that they become names people trust largely on sight. Companies such as Oral-B, Sensodyne and of course, Colgate sell a lot of consumer oral health products primarily on the strength of their brands, with the generally reasonable belief that anything you buy from them will probably help your teeth. This kind of brand power is fantastic, except when you try to launch a line of frozen ready meals and confuse a lot of people in the process, at least in the test markets where they planned...

There are not that many cases when dental care products and musical instruments are discussed in the same article, but the strange case of an esoteric guitar shredder and minty-fresh dental floss is too fascinating to ignore. Prior to 2023, the only time that guitars and teeth were ever close to each other was when the legendary guitarist Jimi Hendrix played a guitar solo with his teeth, which is a feat that left music fans in disbelief and dentists in disbelief for a very different reason. However, a guitarist by the name of Bernth Brödtrager may have topped this feat...

There are certain dental care products that nearly everyone in the world has and uses every day, with by far the most important being a toothpaste and toothbrush. Toothpaste is an essential part of our daily routine as they contain fluoride, which amongst other ingredients helps to protect your teeth from the acids and bacteria that can cause tooth decay and various oral health maladies. One curiosity of toothpaste, however, is that outside of novelty presents and children’s formulations, almost all toothpastes taste of mint. This is not because any of the other ingredients necessarily have a mint taste and...

Flossing is incredibly important to ensuring your teeth and gums stay clean and healthy. Not only is it a vital step in tooth care, but it can also help to improve your gum hygiene and prevent bad breath. There are many different types of dental floss, from rolls of floss which you unwind and use yourself, to interdental brushes, water flossing devices and dental floss picks. These all work to do the same job, which is to remove plaque and debris which may build up in between your teeth and around the gums. Brushing your teeth works very well at...

There is a somewhat large gulf between the advice offered by dentists when it comes to the right dental care products and some of the suggestions patients have found via social media or beauty influencers. Most of them are either ineffective or quite obviously dangerous, but one particular trend that particularly frustrates dentists is the use of activated charcoal in tooth powders and toothpaste. This is not because activated charcoal has no place in the medical world; it is primarily used as an emergency treatment to stop poisons from being absorbed and to prevent potential overdoses. However, its use in...