Wellfie Wednesday Tip #131: New Year, New Me, New… Toothbrush?
/Happy Wellfie Wednesday! Welcome back! This week is brought to you by Diana (@DianaKlatt).
Let’s all be honest with ourselves, when’s the last time you changed your toothbrush?
Oral hygiene is something we all frequently take for granted, something we do on autopilot: wake up and brush teeth, brush teeth and go to bed. But is that really enough? Well, dental care is not really a “one-fits-all” situation, but one method does fit many. Now, I know I won’t be able to convince you all to floss your teeth more regularly so let’s just focus in on something we can all do right now.
REPLACE YOUR TOOTHBRUSH.
Dentists and toothbrush makers suggest replacing your toothbrush every 3 months, but why? The purpose of a toothbrush is to help remove plaque build up from your teeth and from sitting along your gum line. Regardless of the material of your toothbrush bristles, they will weaken overtime and no longer effectively remove the plaque. With that said, those of you using sensitive toothbrushes should take note that you will likely need to replace your toothbrushes more frequently because the bristles are already softer.
Not convinced? Let’s talk bacteria and fungus. Your toothbrush is similar to your kitchen sponge. It is used to clean and it’s not like we all have a way to clean our toothbrushes after each brushing. Each time you brush, you leave germs behind tucked into those bristles (gross). Those germs can develop into bacteria and fungus and can lead to reinfection (if you’ve been sick recently) or become infected by whatever is growing on there.
So, I don’t know about you, but I’m definitely going to go replace my toothbrush now because (1) I’ve been sick and (2) toothbrushes are gross.
P.S. I’m no dentist, but I was told to be one every day of my life since I was 5 years old, so you can imagine I had an odd fascination with dental care and oral hygiene.
Thanks for all of the support, be sure to post your pictures this week and tag the WW crew members in your post (@TheFuelPhysio, @Eric_in_AmERICa, @FreestylePhysio, @DianaKlatt) and keep the wave of healthy change going!
- WW Crew