Having a great smile means having great teeth, a crucial part of making a good first impression. Couple this with the importance of having fresh breath. Both of these can be achieved by regularly caring for your teeth.
Of the many criteria you can judge a woman by, personal hygiene is one. I’m amazed by how many of the women I’ve dated have less than pleasant breath. Needless to say, as an ambitious and exceptional man, your personal care habits should be better than everyone else you meet. Care for your teeth with the suggestions below and you’ll be in the top 1% of bright smiles and minty exhalations.
Brushing
I have’t used a regular toothbrush for over a decade. Electric toothbrushes are far more effective than manually brushing your teeth. The brush I use and consider the best on the market is the Philips Sonicare. This top-of-the-line model includes 3 brush modes (Clean, Sensitive, Clean and Whitening). A timer/pulse feature ensures that you brush each quadrant of your teeth (lower front, lower back, upper front, upper back) for 30 seconds each. The “Clean and Whitening” mode includes two more intensive intervals at the end to brush your upper and lower teeth again. The brush comes with a convenient travel case and charger, but will hold a charge for well over a week if you’re traveling.
There are tons of options for toothpaste, but two that I use are Kiss My Face, an organic toothpaste, and Arm and Hammer Advanced White toothpaste. I use Arm and Hammer in the morning and the other at night.
I brush my teeth twice a day, in the morning before going out and just before going to sleep. You can also brush a third time after lunch, but it’s a personal preference. The only time I brush more than twice is before a date. I also spend about 10 seconds brushing my tongue, especially back towards my throat.
Flossing
About 7 years ago I went in for a routine visit to my dentist and discovered I had 5 cavities. This was too many to fill at once so I had to come in on two separate occasions. This was highly annoying and I decided that I never wanted to go through with that again, so I committed to brushing and flossing regularly. Though I had been pretty consistent with brushing, I almost never flossed. This was a crucial mistake as food particles often become lodged between the teeth where a toothbrush will not reach.
One of the reasons I disliked flossing was that the floss would often shred and even get stuck between my teeth. This changed when I discovered Glide-Crest Dental Floss. This floss comes in a thin band, rather than a string, so it glides easily between the teeth and rarely ever shreds, though it will occasionally snap.
My method for flossing involves wrapping a piece of floss about 10″ long around my index and middle fingers, working my way from the back of each side, top and bottom, of my teeth. Don’t just slide the floss in and out, but try to angle the floss as you slide it back and forth, as if you were launching the tooth out of a slingshot. This will get to the plaque that’s at the base of the tooth. Be careful not to rub against the side of your lips or you’ll cut into them. If this happens you can use a Q-tip dabbed in rubbing alcohol to swab it a few times a day, followed up with Neosporin to help it heal in a day or two.
Soft Picks
During a visit to my dentist last year I asked if there was any more advice he could give me for keeping my teeth clean. He recommended GUM Soft Picks on top of brushing and flossing twice a day. He stated that even though he brushed and flossed religiously, the soft picks were still able to dislodge plaque and debris that was still left. Soft picks are like small bristle brushes that you run in between your teeth at the gum line. I only use them from the front, though you can experiment to see if you can maneuver them in from the back side of your teeth. I don’t use wooden toothpicks and I think these are far superior in any case. I rinse the pick off after cleaning each quadrant of my teeth. You can rinse and reuse the picks for several days, though the bristles will wear down after longer than that.
Mouthwash
There are many different mouthwashes out there claiming to whiten, freshen and protect your teeth. The main question for me is whether a mouthwash will prevent cavities. I believe the best mouthwash for this purpose is ACT Anti Cavity Fluoride Mouthwash. You can use it once or twice a day, rinsing with it for one minute after you’ve brushed, flossed and soft picked. I’ve heard a lot about the negative effects of fluoride. I believe this is in large part due to ingesting it through fluoridated drinking water. In this case you are not ingesting it, though a small amount will inevitably get into your system. I trust the advice of my dentist who has been practicing for 30 years and use ACT daily.
Remember to rinse your mouth out with water after each of these steps to dislodge debris, but don’t rinse after using mouthwash.
Regular dentist visits are a key part of keeping your teeth healthy. I go to the dentist every 6 months. Every other year I get X-rays done to see if there are any cavities or problems that might have been missed. Braces and surgery for addressing misaligned teeth or other issues of the mouth and jaw are beyond the scope of this article, but should be addressed, starting with a visit to your dentist.
Having a bright smile and fresh are one of few things you can do to quickly improve your appearance and boost your confidence. To top it all off pop my favorite mint, Altoids.
