Since I’ve made a couple of posts over the past few weeks about possible toxic dental care products, maybe it’s time for some ideas about what we can do to keep out pearly whites in tip-top condition:

• Brush your teeth for two to three minutes at a time.
• Don’t brush your teeth too hard, as this can damage sensitive gums.
• Brush from your gumline to the top of each tooth in short, gentle strokes.
• Make sure you thoroughly brush the entire height of your teeth (especially the chewing surfaces). Be sure to get the bristles down in the crevices where food accumulates.
• Thoroughly brush the back sides of your teeth. For the backs of harder-to-brush front teeth, try holding the toothbrush almost vertically, and brush up and down.
• Always brush (or use a tongue scraper) your tongue and the roof of your mouth to get rid of bacteria. Use a sweeping, forward motion to clean these areas.
• Carefully floss between your teeth, back and forth, and gently down to the gumline.
• Curve the floss around each tooth — don’t forget the backs of teeth. Gently move the floss up and down to dislodge food and bacteria-laden plaque.
• Be sure not use the same area of floss for all your teeth. If you do, you’re just moving bacteria from one tooth to another. Use at least a foot of floss and change the part of the floss that you’re using as you move around your mouth.