[romseb]

After spending way too much time looking for the "perfect" toothbrush, I eventually ended up with a twig from a tree [1]. I do not look back after dealing with non-replaceable batteries, expensive heads and generating way too much electronic waste than necessary [2]. My teeth have been perfectly clean and healthy after years of use. I do not need toothpaste and am much more inclined to clean my teeth in between meals because I do not need to stay in the bathroom for it anymore.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miswak

[2] If everyone would switch to twigs, we could save thousands of tons of waste every single year. "The global electric toothbrush market size was USD 3.16 billion in 2022 and is projected to grow from USD 3.27 billion in 2023 to USD 4.37 billion in 2030"

[y-curious]

This[1] is exactly what I'm worried about with a miswak. No way you're hitting all of your tooth surfaces.

[1] "Its bristles lie in the long axis of the stick, whereas those of a toothbrush are placed perpendicular to the handle. Thus, it is difficult to reach the lingual surfaces of the dentition with a miswak. Another disadvantage is related to the habitual use of miswak for a prolonged period... reported that chewing-stick users may excessively scrub the anterior teeth, which are located in the area of primary concern, while ignoring the posterior teeth. " https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3723367/#:~:tex....

[romseb]

The fresh stick is quite flexible, so you can reach all surfaces after a small learning curve, but I actually combine it with this handle: https://www.swak.de/was-ist-die-swak/swak-miswak-zahnbuerste...

[kaliszad]

I would strongly recommend to make an appointment with a respected dental hygienist instead as you obviously have many misconceptions about dental hygiene/ brushing teeth. (Source, my fiance is a well established dental hygienist with her own office in Prague, Czechia. I have consulted the following text with her, it is adapted from a previous comment of mine some weeks ago.)

Perhaps it is good to have some basic knowledge how a cavity/ caries comes to be. From that you can derive whether you are on the right or wrong path to a reasonable dental hygiene. I would like to add that you can assume nobody is immune or has a resistance to caries.

When we eat or drink the bacteria gets nutrients (any form of sugar) and builds up plaque and the bacteria create an acid. Because the plaque stays on our teeth above and even slightly bellow the gums (gingiva) and the bacteria likes to live there the effects are strongest where the plaque is. The bacteria and the resulting acid over time cause demineralisation, dissolves the calcium in the teeth. After some time this leads to decay which we describe as cavity/ caries. Also, the plaque can solidify into a build-up of tartar/ calculus which further provides a nice habitat for bacteria, causing gingivitis (inflamation of the gums - they become red and swollen) spreads the sulcus, basically splitting gums from the teeth over time which results in periodontitis, which is basically loss of the bone and other problems below the gums. Periodontitis can also exacerbate other illnesses such as diabetes, cardiovascular illnesses, possibly some allergies (active research). This can really only be fixed by a professional dentist or dental hygienist since removing the tartar, especially under the gums, is a precise and demanding. The procedure can be painful without local anesthetics.

If you don't want all that do brush your teeth correctly each day. The 2 minutes number is myth again - do brush until the teeth are free from plaque. It is easier with a sonic/electric toothbrush, e.g. by Phillips or Oral B iO should be ok too. The brushing technique is very important, most people do this wrong. The brush should be at 45° to the sulcus (half of the bristles is on the gums the other on the tooth). Obviously also brush the top of the teeth. Each tooth basically has 5 surfaces, top and 4 sides. Don't forget to use correctly sized interdental brushes. Your dentist or dental hygienist should be able to help you find the correct sizes for specific spaces between teeth. (You will probably end up with TePe or Curaprox and probably more than one size.) You can use a solo brush too, which brushes exactly one tooth at a time. The bristles of the brush should be as soft as possible and removal of bigger amounts of plaque are done by spending more time instead of force/ pressure/ hardness/ abrasiveness. In addition to not replacement of interdental brushes, you can also use a super floss (the middle is made of a fluffy material) but learn a good technique so you don't hurt your gums, throw the thin waxed floss in the trash especially if you are not super handy/ careful as to not cut your gums. Also, the floss does not clean premolars and molars properly because of the shape of the teeth in interdental space (because of their concavity, imagine that the surface is basically made of two pillars).

Do have a regular appointment with your dentist and dental hygienist. 2x a year should be enough with good hygiene. If you have more problems, the frequency of appointments will of course vary. They should definitely do at least intraoral x-rays each preventive appointment and a OrthoPantomoGraph in ~2 years.

[romseb]

Thanks for the educational text.

> you obviously have many misconceptions about dental hygiene/ brushing teeth

What misconceptions do you see? I go to the dental hygienist twice a year already and my oral health has never been better since using the Miswak in lieu of an electric toothbrush.

[kaliszad]

How do you brush your interdental spaces with the miswak? If you don't physically brush or floss them, how can they be clean? Do your dentists x-ray your teeth? It could help a bit if you eat sugar-free diet but unless you mechanically remove the plaque buildup you will sooner or later develop gum inflammation/ gingivitis and carries.

Of course, you could explicitly ask if your dental hygiene is spotless. In any profession where you need to be nice to customers people tend to say fewer bad things or put them euphemistically. Clarity can get lost.

[romseb]

For my interdental spaces, an interdental brush does not work, my dental hygienist also tried and agrees. I used floss before, but a few years ago I switched to an italian-made oral irrigator that does not require batteries and is connected to the faucet: https://www.sowash.it/

I was skeptical about it at first, but it does the job just fine because the jet is more powerful than any of the electric oral irrigators.

While I'm not doing it anymore, a ketogenic diet also had a huge effect on the buildup of plaque.