Product Reviews

At virtually every pharmacy, supermarket, and health store you will find a daunting amount of different oral health products. It can be difficult to choose which one is right for you and your family. There several high-quality over-the-counter products and there are others that aren’t as good. But how do you know which one to choose? First you will want to make sure that the oral health product has the ADA’s (American Dental Association’s) seal of acceptance. This helps you to know that the product has been reviewed by the ADA and passed. You should also be careful when buying dental tools such as scaling devices and picks as these type of over-the-counter products can damage the soft tissue of your mouth or worse.

The last time I went to my local supermarket for a toothbrush I was left speechless at the sheer number of toothbrushes and I couldn’t’ help but to think about how overwhelming this aisle must be to people who don’t know what to look for in a toothbrush. You have the option of either manual or mechanical (electric). You have to choose a bristle stiffness: soft, medium or hard. 

When choosing between a manual and mechanical toothbrush, our office highly recommends the mechanical option. These toothbrushes benefit from features such as pulsations, which aid in the breakdown of plaque, and many have built in timers. Even if you have a mechanical toothbrush, you should consider keeping a spare soft, rounded bristled manual toothbrush for emergencies. 

Even something as simple as dental floss has its own variety of different styles and textures to choose from. You can choose from waxed and unwaxed floss or dental tape. You can even get dental floss in flavors such as wintergreen or mint. Dental floss comes in self-dispensing boxes, or there are plastic flossers that have a pre-cut amount of floss attached to a plastic handle which is helpful for people who need help reaching the back molars or who have troubles wrapping traditional floss around their fingers. 

Water picks, also called water irrigation devices or oral pulsating irrigators, use streams of water to remove food particles from your teeth and can be beneficial to those patients with sensitive gums, gum disease, or for patients with braces. Water picks are available for home use, but shouldn’t be used as a substitute for daily brushing and flossing with traditional dental floss. Dentists also use professional grade water picks to prep teeth before a dental surgery or restoration. 

A mouth guard is a plastic covering worn over teeth to protect them. It prevents cuts and bruises of the cheeks and lips by moving soft tissue away from the teeth in the mouth. People who regularly play sports such as volleyball, basketball, football, baseball, hockey and gymnastics, to name a few, should use a mouth guard to protect their teeth. It is important that the mouth guard fit your teeth properly, because if it is ill-fitting, its effectiveness decreases. This is especially true for people with braces, as the mouthguard acts as a cushion between the braces and the inside of your mouth.

Another piece of equipment that athletes can use to prevent injury is a helmet. Where not appropriate for every sport, helmets can help people who play avoid serious injuries such as jaw fractures, neck injuries, and concussions, to name a few examples.

Here is a little information on the three main types of mouth guards: