Brush smarter, not harder. Be gentle when brushing your teeth. Excessive force will injure your gums. Force is not necessary, as you are merely removing a daily buildup of plaque and food remnants, not stone. You should hold the brush gently with the tips of your fingers and thumb, as you would grip a pen, rather than in the palm of your hand.
Create a pattern for brushing your teeth. Start with the upper right tooth and work your way across the arch to the upper left. Then start in the lower left and work to the lower right. Make sure that you clean the outside, inside, and chewing surfaces of the tooth. When brushing the teeth in the back of your mouth, keep your mouth slightly closed. This will relax your muscles so that you can thoroughly brush the outer surfaces of your molar teeth.
Choose a small toothbrush with soft bristles. Hard and medium toothbrushes are for cleaning dentures, not for cleaning your teeth. A large toothbrush will not let you focus on each individual tooth and will tend to damage the gum tissue. Larger brushes also make it more difficult to get into the harder to reach places of your mouth.
