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...

Flossing is an important part of your dental hygiene routine and can help to keep your teeth and gums clean and healthy. When done alongside brushing and using mouthwash, it can help to ensure your teeth stay strong and prevent gum disease. Gum disease is caused by a build-up of plaque and tartar on the teeth and around the gums. When left for a long time it can cause your gums to become red and inflamed and can also cause bleeding. Regular flossing helps to remove this build-up and keeps the area around your gum line clean and free from...

Over the years there have been many different companies that have tried their hand at making dental care products, with brands such as Colgate and Sensodyne being particularly famous when it comes to toothpaste. However, by far one of the strangest brands to attempt to create a product that helps keep teeth healthy was the Swedish munitions manufacturer Bofors.  Despite the somewhat dubious credentials a company better known for marking artillery would face transitioning into what they euphemistically called “peacetime products”, this was far more than a white-label good or a lazy effort. In 1968, the toothpaste launched with a set...

If you are choosing a new toothbrush, there will be various makes and models on the shelf, but essentially they come in two types; a manual toothbrush and an electric one. The former will have an elongated head and the latter a round one. The question you may reasonably ask is what would be the best option for you. Does an electric toothbrush reach and clean the places a manual will not? Or could a manual toothbrush do the job just as well with the right technique? It should be noted that if you do any amount of reading on...