Best Oral Care Routine: Sequence and Specific Tools Matter

Are you looking for the best (read most effective) oral care routine?  Or wonder if the sequence of the routine is important or if the tools or products make a difference?  When it comes to the most effective and best oral care routine, the sequence and proper tools definitely make a difference. 

We should look at oral care as an essential part of self-care as it really is quite crucial to your whole-body wellness.  As with any self-care routine, to be effective there’s a sequence to which one performs each part of the routine.  Think jade roller and serum in a facial routine — you obviously wouldn’t be applying the serum with the special roller until you’ve thoroughly cleansed your face.  The same goes for your oral routine — each cleansing step has a specific purpose in preparing for the next one.  

Let’s talk about why DrTung’s recommends a certain order and certain tools for creating the best oral routine.  It’s really no secret.  We start with products that are a step above the common items you might see in the general market today and integrate them into a routine that optimizes each step to get the best overall clean.   

 Here are the steps and tools to make your oral routine the best it can be. 

Step: Always (always) scrape your tongue first.  First, as in first thing in the morning, before doing anything else.  Ok, it can be the next thing after going to the bathroom but definitely before drinking anything.  Your tongue is amazingly designed to be an overnight ‘collector’ of debris and bacteria — so in the morning it’s ripe for the picking, er scraping.  What’s not scraped off gets re-absorbed into your body. 

Tool:  A high-quality metal tongue scraper.   Most people have the idea that one should probably clean their tongue but a common practice has been simply to use your toothbrush and brush it.  That may help…a little.  But what you’re mostly doing is just moving the ‘tongue gunk’ around a bit and even pushing it further into the soft surface of the tongue.  It’s not being removed — it’s just hanging around waiting to connect up with some food and water buddies and take a ‘road trip’ out to the rest of your body.  DrTung’s Tongue Scrapers are made with high quality metal (copper or stainless steel) which are impervious to bacteria growth ‑ unlike plastic which is more porous and can easily harbor bacteria.   Scrape your tongue — it’s the most important task of the morning!

Step:  Floss after scraping (and before brushing).  There are many opinions whether you should floss or brush first and the sort of accepted rule has been that it doesn’t matter — just do what you prefer.  DrTung’s recommendsflossing before brushing and it seems like the rest of the world is catching up as there is more research showing the benefits.  Brushing alone cannot find and dislodge the debris and plaque that are hiding in the interdental spaces.  Flossing grabs that ‘gunk’ out of its hiding place and either traps it in the floss itself (depending on what kind you’re using) or simply deposits it into the mouth and outer surfaces of the teeth where it can be brushed away in the next step. 

Tool:  Use a non-toxic, soft, easy-on-the-gums floss like Smart Floss®.   What makes Smart Floss smart?  It starts with the floss itself.  The multi-filament fibers actually expand and remove up to 55% more plaque than traditional floss.  That’s a biggie for sure, but there’s more.  It’s toxic free — no PFAS/PTFE (you know these, the ‘forever chemicals”) — the ingredients are all natural.  One more thing, and this is for the folks who don’t really like to floss that much, Smart Floss is gentle on the gums.  It’s an innovative win, win, win!!!! 

Step:  Brush after flossing.  As noted in the flossing section, you’ve just deposited the plaque and debris that were hiding below the gum line and between the teeth into your mouth.  It’s time to brush this — and other buildup — all away.  

Tool:  An effective brush with soft bristles like the Ionic Toothbrush.  There’s a lengthy description about how the Ionic Toothbrush works which you can read here.  But the TL;DR version is this:  the ionic action of the brush makes teeth temporarily REPEL plaque, like reversing a magnet.  While it might sound like magic, it’s really just science and clinically proven to remove more plaque than manual or powered toothbrushes.  It's silent, emits no EMFs, no charging required, has replaceable heads and the handle lasts for a couple of years.  Oh, and you can even use it without toothpaste — you just need water to activate the ionic action!  

Step:  Finish the routine with oil pulling.  Why oil pulling instead of a mouth wash?  Many believe that using an alcohol-based mouthwash is the best way to freshen your breath because it “kills the germs”.  The reality is that the alcohol indiscriminately kills ALL the bacteria (both good and bad) — it dries out the mouth making you more prone to cavities and creates an environment friendly for bad bacteria to overpopulate. 

Tool:  DrTung’s Oil Pulling Concentrate.  If you’ve not heard of oil pulling before, it’s an ancient practice of swishing (or pulling) oil between the teeth for about 20 minutes to help extract harmful bacteria and plaque from the mouth.  Oil pulling has many clinically proven benefits and is gaining popularity in the western world.  When pulling with a plain oil like sesame or coconut, people often do it before brushing but because DrTung’s Oil Pulling Concentrate is so much more advanced than plain oil, we recommend using it at the end.  The 24 botanicals infused into the organic sesame oil will nourish your gums and not be washed away by brushing or scraping.  And one more benefit — you only have to swish for 5-10 minutes instead of the necessary 20 with plain oil.  (Hint: it also doesn’t have to be done every day — 4 times a week is plenty to reap the benefits).

THE TAKEAWAY

Oral health is essential to overall health, and we have your best oral care routine covered in 4 easy steps.  Following these simple steps with these innovative tools you can effectively remove the harmful “gunk” (bacteria, foods bits and plaque) and nourish your gums — leaving your mouth clean and healthy. 

If optimizing your oral care routine is top on your priority list — give it a try. Your teeth, gums, breath (and body) will thank you!!!