Dr. Katie To explains how aggressive brushing with hard bristles permanently wears away gum tissue. The damage comes from force, not how long you brush. Use a soft toothbrush, brush for at least two minutes with a timer, and skip the scrubbing.
Whenever there's inflammation, everything is super red, super puffy, super fiery. And then whenever you take a hard bristle toothbrush and then you go in and you're aggressively brushing your teeth really hard, it's going to wear that tissue away. Whenever that tissue gets worn away, it doesn't come back. I always tell my patients that it's not how hard you brush your teeth, it's how long you brush your teeth. What I tell patients is Get a soft bristle toothbrush. Soft, extra soft. The softer it is, the better. Get a soft bristle toothbrush and brush for longer. Most people are brushing for under 2 minutes. They think that they're brushing for the correct amount of time, but if you actually put on a timer on your phone and try to go for 2 minutes, it's a lot longer than you think it is.
