Every time you need to replace your toothbrush, you face two crucial questions: which one should you decide between soft, medium, and hard, and what's right for you?
It could be hard to decide what toothbrush to get due to the wide variety available. The market offers many options and brands with different styles, handles, and sizes. However, the most essential aspect to consider is the bristles.
Whether you have a manual toothbrush or an electric toothbrush head, they come with either soft, medium, or hard bristles. Although they might look similar, the variation in the texture can have highly different effects on your oral health and your teeth and gums.
Therefore, it is essential to understand their differences, benefits, and disadvantages to know which one is right for you.
If you are looking for a high-quality electric toothbrush, Oclean's catalog contains the best toothbrushes for any case. The models are compatible with all of their different types of heads, making them highly customizable to fit your individual needs.
In this article, we'll talk about the different types of toothbrush bristles and discuss which one is right for you.
Different types of toothbrush bristles
All the toothbrushes are designed to clean your teeth and keep your mouth healthy. However, the toothbrushes' bristles come with different textures. The most common ones are soft, medium, and hard. Nonetheless, some toothbrushes come with extra-soft bristles, which are more gentle with your teeth.
Every mouth is different and possesses unique characteristics. Therefore, certain types of bristles could be more suitable for you, depending on your needs. However, dentists always recommend their patients brush with a soft bristle toothbrush.
This is because they act gently on your teeth and gums and are usually not associated with abrasion and deciding gums. Nonetheless, each bristle option has its own set of benefits.
● Hard bristles
This type of toothbrush bristles can remove plaque more easily than the other alternatives. Furthermore, they can be valuable in removing stains from the enamel surface. However, they are also highly abrasive, which is their biggest flaw.
As a result, brushing your teeth constantly with them could lead to tooth wear, particularly above the gum line. This could even cause tooth sensitivity. It is essential to know that the worn enamel can't grow back and require a composite restoration to be fixed.
Furthermore, hard bristles can also cause receding gums. When this happens, the tooth root can get exposed to the oral cavity.
The roots are not protected by the enamel. Therefore, they are more susceptible to external stimuli, resulting in tooth sensitivity.
For this reason, they are often not recommended by dentists.
Although removing plaque is the most vital function of any toothbrush and hard bristles excel at it, their disadvantages surpass the benefits.
● Soft bristles
Soft bristles are the opposite of hard bristles and are recommended by the American Dental Association. They are safer for the teeth and gums while still being capable of removing plaque efficiently.
They can keep your mouth healthy if your brushing technique is done correctly. Furthermore, brushing for the recommended time of 2 minutes is essential to ensure good results. Therefore, combining these two aspects allows you to remove plaque efficiently.
Finally, these bristles are less likely to cause tooth abrasion and receding gums since they act more gently. However, it is still possible to harm your teeth and gums if you use an incorrect technique and brush too hard.
● Medium bristles
As the name suggests, medium bristle toothbrushes are the intermediate variant between soft and hard toothbrushes.
They are less abrasive than hard bristles, which makes them less likely to cause receding gums and tooth wear. However, they are not as gentle as soft bristles. This can cause some discomfort while brushing.
Although this alternative is safer and better than hard bristles, it is still not as good as a soft bristle toothbrush.
Why is a soft bristle toothbrush the best option?
These toothbrushes offer the best balance between effective plaque removal and minimal risk of damaging the teeth. Furthermore, while brushing, their soft texture causes little to no discomfort to your gums. This unique feature is essential for people with sensitive gums as it allows them to brush better without pain or discomfort. Therefore, resulting in better plaque removal and improved oral health and hygiene.
Furthermore, they allow you to clean the gum line properly without causing any type of injury. However, a good brushing technique is fundamental to prevent damage.
While you brush, you should place the toothbrush bristles at a 45-degree angle against the teeth and the gums. Afterward, make gentle and short back and forth movements to remove plaque within the gum line. Repeat the process over each tooth until all of them are completely clean. Lastly, don't forget to brush the occlusal or biting surfaces and your tongue as it also harvests bacteria.
The best type of bristles for an electric toothbrush
Electric toothbrushes also come with the same types of bristles. Moreover, the same principles apply to both manual and electric toothbrushes.
However, electric toothbrushes rotate or vibrate at high speed. This makes them remove plaque more efficiently than a regular toothbrush. But also makes them more abrasive. Therefore, choosing an electric toothbrush head that comes with soft or medium bristles is crucial.
Oclean offers toothbrushes with different interchangeable heads that guarantee to provide deep cleaning while preventing oral injuries. Their smart electric toothbrush head's bristles are soft enough to keep your gums and teeth safe while brushing.
Although they have a wide variety of options, the heads are divided into 3 categories according to their function: gum care, standard clean, and plaque control.
● Gum Care
These heads are designed to protect your gums while brushing. They possess extra-soft bristles to ensure your comfort, especially if you suffer from gum disease and receding gums.
Oclean's gum care heads are highly recommended for people who have sensitive gums. Although you might feel discomfort with a medium or soft toothbrush, the extra-soft bristles of this head are designed to prevent any discomfort.
They possess high-density bristle planting, which allows for a better fit and thorough cleaning. However, each bristle is less than 0.01mm in diameter, making them extremely thin and soft.
Lastly, the bristles have diamond-cut tips to ensure the safety of your gums and teeth while having an efficient cleaning.
● Daily Clean
These heads are designed for everyday use and work in any situation. They are the standard models for people who don't suffer from gums sensitivity or don't have many issues controlling plaque build-ups.
Oclean's standard clean heads are equipped with soft bristles to achieve great oral health. They protect your teeth from wear and prevent receding gums. However, the P3 head of the standard clean collection comes with medium bristles in case you prefer your bristles to be more firm.
The bristles on the standard head collection are DuPont Tynex bristles to ensure the effectiveness of the cleaning. These high-quality bristles can remove plaque from any tooth's surface without any issues.
● Plaque control
The plaque control heads are designed to remove plaque more efficiently. They are an excellent option for people who generate too much plaque or have issues controlling it.
These toothbrush heads come with medium bristles for thorough plaque removal. Moreover, they have a 115% cleaning efficiency. This provides outstanding results in plaque removal.
They possess DuPont Tynex bristles and pedex indicator bristles. These bristles change color as they wear down to indicate when a replacement is needed.
Furthermore, these toothbrush heads possess a tongue cleaner on the back. Bacteria in the tongue can easily migrate to the teeth and contribute to plaque formation. Therefore, cleaning your tongue with a tongue cleaner can reduce plaque formation and help you control it more efficiently.
The Takeaway
Although you will find many toothbrush options available with different types of bristles, dentists and the American Dental Association recommend using a soft bristle toothbrush.
They can remove plaque efficiently while acting gently on your gums and teeth. Therefore, they won't cause gum recession or wear down your enamel unless you brush too hard with an incorrect technique.
On the contrary, hard toothbrushes can remove plaque more easily. However, they can also damage your gums and teeth due to their highly abrasive properties. For this reason, they are not recommended as the risk doesn't outweigh the benefits.
Conclusively, if you want to achieve the best results possible while brushing your teeth, Oclean offers high-quality smart toothbrush with a wide head variety. These heads possess medium, soft, and extra-soft bristles to ensure your gums and teeth' safety. Once you use an Oclean toothbrush, you will achieve the oral health you deserve.