'Brushing more than twice a day can damage your teeth'

"The most common myth I have seen is the clients coming in and saying that they brush four times a day.

"Your oral hygiene does not depend on the number of times you brush.

"It's the reverse; if you brush more than twice a day you might actually end up damaging the teeth."

Dental cosmetologist Dr Rajesh Shetty talks about some of the common mistakes people make that eventually damages their teeth and gums.

How often do you visit a dentist in a year?

Do you know what foods are good for your teeth and gums?

The failure to recognise and take precautionary action might cost you dearly.

In the following interview, Dr Rajesh Shetty (inset, below), dental cosmetologist at Dazzle Dental Clinic, Mumbai offers insights into dental trends amongst the youth and suggests the right way to care for your teeth. Read on

How can youngsters best take care of their dental health?

From what I understand about the youth and their requirements, primarily they are always facing a shortage of time.

The general trend right now is that all we do as far as dental health is concerned, is that we brush our teeth daily, and then we'll only attend to things when they really start bothering us.

So, that's an area where we want to change the youth's perception and want them to realize that dental issues are not something which you damage control or fix when you have pain; you attend to it in preventive and proactive basis.

Every person should make it mandatory to visit a dental clinic once every six months whether or not there is any pain.

What kind of food should one have and not have to keep up dental health?

To keep our mouth clean, a lot of fibrous food like carrots or salad adds on to the cleaning effect in the mouth due to the intense chewing action.

Besides this, we all have a social urge to have alcoholic beverages and colas and sugary food stuff.

What matters is the amount of time that you let it to remain in the oral cavity after consuming it.

If you immediately rinse it out, then it is okay, but if that sugary food is allowed to be in the mouth for a long time that's when the damage starts.

So, I wouldn't put restrictions to anything, since one cannot change their lifestyle around their teeth, but one should know what to do and how to combat negative effects of the food stuff.

What does a routine checkup entail?

The protocol varies from clinic to clinic, but first there would be a detailed check-up of the patient's entire oral cavity and then every six months if the need arises we would recommend a professional clean up.

The larger part of our guidance or counselling is that we try and gauge as to where they are going wrong in maintenance and try to modify them by home maintenance techniques, whether it is brushing, the brushing technique, the frequency of brushing, or the use of add-ons.

Are there any myths that you'd like to clear out?

So the most common myth I have seen is the clients coming in and saying that they brush four times a day.

I would like to highlight that it's not directly proportional; your oral hygiene does not depend on the number of times you brush.

It's the reverse; if you brush more than twice a day you might actually end up damaging the teeth.

If you put a lot of pressure and use incorrect techniques, you could be accelerating tooth wear and lot of people are not aware of that.

Also, when you consume orange juice or citric juices as part of your diet, you shouldn't brush your teeth right after it.

It's not very commonly known that any type of citric juices lead to softening of teeth's external structure.

So to brush immediately after having orange juice or lime juice, you wear down the outer layer.

What dental procedures do you recommend (or don't recommend) for youngsters?

We have a large proportion of youngsters, who mostly come for midrange cosmetology treatment.

Youngsters or young corporate executives are very clear about what they want, they've done the research.

Today, with the evolution of cosmetology in every field, smile designing or smile makeover is a large part of it.

It ranges from a simple clean up to a smile makeover to teeth whitening.

One needs to understand that anything done in dentistry has a shelf life.

That's where approaching the right professionals is very important in the beginning, who are not hard selling procedures, but also make you aware of what could happen 10 years later or how much of maintenance you would need or often you need to get the work done.

How do you motivate youngsters to go for dental checkups?

We have this really barbaric idea about what dental treatment is like.

Every patient has a fear or paranoia about going to dentist.

But using the right equipments and right expertise, almost all the treatment can be done in a relatively zero pain environment where most of the cosmetic procedures we talk about like smile makeover can be accomplished in a single sitting.

Be it for health needs or cosmetic needs, now it's all very smooth.

The whole process of getting the analysis and actually undergoing the treatment can happen in only two sittings.

So we have lot of clients who do online consultation from other cities and set a date for treatment and fly back the same night.

The wackiest responses you received from men for their dental beauty...

The Gold Diggers: Some of them want gold crown covering on their front tooth.

Fake Braces: Teens and kids, even though they don’t need braces, would come to us as they consider braces to be a fashion trend.

The Perfectionist: Men love to look perfect for their wedding too, and can be as demanding as bridezillas, from wanting to straighten their teeth overnight to the whitest brightest smiles.

The Twilight Fan: Fangs for real that will surely impress the vampire obsessed girls.

The Selfie King: They don’t want yellow teeth ruining their selfies, and ask for better smiles to get better pictures.