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All You Need To Know About Teeth Brushing

Dr. Gordon Tam • Apr 09, 2020
Freting over not able to go for your routine dental checkup and cleaning appointment during this COVID-19 circuit breaker period? Let us revise the proper basic home-based teeth maintenance to tide you over before we can resume our usual dental appointments.

Why is it important to brush our teeth?

By brushing our teeth for at least twice a day, we prevent dirt and germs to build up in between and around our teeth. This reduces the risk of cavities, periodontal and even gum diseases.

Our set of adult teeth will company us through our early teenage formative years to old age. We need them to help us chew, bite, and smile with confidence! Poor dental hygiene not only hasten the expectancy of our teeth, it is often associated with higher chances of heart diseases and shorten life expectancy.

What is tooth brushing?

Our set of teeth is important. We need them to chew the food into smaller pieces before we can swallow them. A healthy set of teeth not only serves as a practical aspect, its aesthetics improves our confidence as well. Needless to say, we have to put in our utmost effort to maintain and protect them. Minimum twice a day if not more, we brush our teeth with a toothbrush. It means by analogy, scrubbing them with a tool (a toothbrush) and a cleaning agent (a toothpaste).

Choice of a toothbrush

Find yourself standing in the middle of an aisle in your grocery store staring at of rows and rows of toothbrushes, wondering which to get? You are not alone. Very often, the wide array of toothbrushes available, together with all their advertising, makes it confusing for us to make an informed decision. Generally, dentists recommend toothbrushes that are gentle; those with soft bristles are ideal. Toothbrushes with soft bristles reduces irritation to the gums and do not damage the tooth enamel. Once the layer of enamel is worn down, it does not replenish itself. As such, it is important for us to adopt the correct brushing technique.

Alternatively, you may opt for an electronic toothbrush. There are 2 types available in the market. The electronic toothbrush is effective in cleaning teeth. The bristles however require more frequent replacement than a manual toothbrush due to it's high frequency of oscillation. 

  • smaller head oscillation in a circular motion - able to reach the back of the last molars. However because of it's smaller head bristles, it takes a longer time to clean through all your teeth. 
  • regular head oscillation in linear motion
There is a big range in terms of pricing for an electronic toothbrush, mainly due to the special features such as rechargeable battery functions, LED light,  timer, design and material. Fundamentally, all of them works the same!

You may want to consider getting your child an electronic toothbrush as the 'auto-brushing' capability will fascinate them, encouraging them to brush more often. 

Proper brushing technique

It is a wrong perception that the harder you brush your teeth, the cleaner it gets. Just like cleaning the grooves and gaps in between our wall or floor tiles, it is not the strength that gets the dirt out. Rather, it is the proper technique, angle and tools used to help us clean efficiently. Likewise for when we brush our teeth. The angle our toothbrush is placed should be 45 degrees towards the gum-line. In a circular motion, move the toothbrush forward and backward to gently brush our teeth as well as along the gum-line. This method allows us to clean off most of the food trapped in between the teeth and some along the gum-line. Brush the outer surfaces, inner surfaces, as well as the biting surfaces of the teeth. Tilt your toothbrush vertically to and make up-and-down strokes to clean the inner surfaces. Remember, brush your teeth for two minutes twice a day and change your toothbrush once every 3 months!

Maintaining good oral and dental hygiene promotes healthier lifestyle and gives you the confidence to smile by showing a set of health, clean and properly maintained teeth. 

Call for an appointment once this Circuit Breaker period is over to resume your routine dental checkup and cleaning with us!

For more information and consultation, please contact Smile Design Dental Practice at +65 6463 8588.


To serve you better, we are available by Appointment Only. 

Please contact us to schedule for an appointment.

Is lemon water good or bad for you?

By Dr. Gordon Tam • 11 Oct, 2019
Why would you drink lemon water? In recent years, lemon water is widely accepted for the benefits that many believed to have. Lemon contains antibacterial, antioxidants properties and it is packed with the essential minerals and vitamins that are helpful for our bodies. It can help to reduce the risk of health issues, boost kidney and skin conditions, fight infections and improve our overall well-being. It is believed that when adding lemon to water, it creates a healthy concoction that provides electrolytes and hydration that our body needs. Lemon water is simply adding freshly juiced lemon to water. The ratio of lemon to water and to consume hot or cold is entirely up to the individual. Such simple concoction has created a big hype among the health-conscious group of people. People who tried many methods turned to lemon water for solution. Those who wanted to slim down but do not like to exercise may believe that as lemon is acidic, it will help to curb their appetite, burns fats and eventually slim down without needing to do much exercises. However, lemon water should be used in combination with a healthy diet and an active lifestyle to obtain results. Naturopaths believe in using natural remedies or solutions to solve their health issues. The choice of lemon is vital. You should be using organic lemons to make sure that the source of lemon is of high quality and not contaminated by any pesticides. As the preparation of lemon water is easy and lemon is conveniently sold, many people see this as a healthy beverage they can have easily.

Don’t drink another glass of lemon water before reading this!

By Dr Gordon Tam • 14 Apr, 2024
Why does drinking lemon water become a trend? Lemon water is simply adding freshly juiced lemon to water. The ratio of lemon to water and to consume hot or cold is entirely up to the individual. Such simple concoction has created a big hype among the health-conscious group of people. It is believed that when adding lemon to water, it creates a healthy concoction that provides electrolytes and hydration that our body needs. Those who want to slim down but do not like to exercise may believe that as lemon is acidic, it will help to curb their appetite, burn fats and eventually slim down without needing to do much exercise. However, lemon water should be used in combination with a healthy diet and an active lifestyle to obtain results. People who tried many (weight loss) methods had turned to lemon water for solution. Naturopaths believe in using natural remedies or solutions to solve their health issues. The choice of lemon is vital. You should be using organic lemons to make sure that the source of lemon is of high quality and not contaminated by any pesticides. As the preparation of lemon water is easy and lemon is conveniently sold, many people see this as a healthy beverage they can have easily.

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By Dr Gordon Tam • 12 Apr, 2024
Apart from a nice set of teeth, having a set of healthy and pink looking gums are as important.

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By Dr. Gordon Tam • 05 Apr, 2024
The food trap is one of the most common complains we hear. It happens during eating when food got trapped in between your teeth. Sometimes you can remove them, but most of the time you can’t do it without flossing. This food trap may eventually lead to tooth decay or gum inflammation if left untreated. You may have experienced some embarrassing moments where a piece of salad green is trapped in between your teeth are visible to others but you may not even notice it. It can be annoying and creating discomfort when there is a big chunk of steak trapped at the back of your teeth. Apart from the awkward moments of food trap, sometimes when the food trap gets to the gums, it can irritate the gums, causing your gums to swell and sore. Although it is common, it is not normal. There are many contributing reasons for the food trap issue.

Gum Care for Pregnancy

By Dr. Gordon Tam • 20 Mar, 2024
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Why did my dental filling keep dropping out?

By Dr Gordon Tam • 24 Oct, 2020
Almost all of us needed a dental filling at some point of time in our lives. A dental filling is a restoration work done to our tooth that might have chipped off or decay. There are several choices of materials used to replace the partial missing tooth structure. Dental fillings will deteriorate over time, due to wear and tear, bad habits, or even simply they were not properly done in the first place.

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By Dr Gordon Tam • 11 Sep, 2020
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Top 3 most common dental fears

By Dr Gordon Tam • 14 Aug, 2020
What are you afraid of to see a dentist?  We want to understand more about what are the most common dental fears among you and me. In order to address these fears, we must first know what they are.   Fear of the Unknown Fear of Pain Bill Shock    We commonly hear from our patients these few fears that are holding them back from making a dental appointment or even to cancel one at the last minute!

Facts you should know about fluoride

By Dr Gordon Tam • 21 May, 2020
Functions of fluoride Fluoride is a natural mineral that is found in our body (bones and teeth), and the natural environments such as water, soil, plants, rocks and even in the air. Fluoride is important to us especially to our teeth as it helps to strengthen the most outer layer, the enamel and fights against cavities. The most common products you used with fluoride in it are our water (in SIngapore’s context) and toothpastes. Prevent demineralization caused by the loss of minerals by strengthening the structure of tooth to prevent bacteria on tooth surface from ‘eating away’ the enamel Direct application of fluoride to reduce tooth sensitivity Increase the rate of remineralization Helps to fight against acid produced by plaque, blocking harmful enzymes that weakens the tooth enamel

Do not buy another toothpaste before reading this!

By Dr Gordon Tam • 08 May, 2020
Your choice of toothpaste may be different from your family members. Do not worry about being odd here. You are not alone. It is only right for you to find the correct toothpaste that suits your needs and oral condition. Likewise if you have young children at home. Their toothpaste is totally different from adults! We often place emphasis on selecting the correct toothbrushes for ourselves and our family members. It is important to get toothbrushes with soft bristles, so that we can clean more thoroughly, reaching most of the surfaces of our teeth. The selection of toothpastes is equally important to compliment the importance of maintaining routine oral hygiene.
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