A Look Into KIS Students' Dental Life
Photo credit: Harvard School of Dental Medicine
Dental hygiene is key to a healthy life because it is the essential foundation of perfect oral health. Maintaining squeaky-white teeth and healthy gums not only promises a white, beautiful smile but also prevents oral diseases, discomfort, and even further health issues.
This led to the question: How well are KIS high schol students’ dental hygiene? How long are they brushing their teeth? How often are they brushing? Which technique are they using? And more. These are questions that will help for life for students who might need it.
On September 30th, a Google Form was issued to 28 randomly selected participants at KIS High School. Using stratified sampling, 100 high school students were separated into 4 strata: 25 freshmen, 25 sophomores, 25 juniors, and 25 seniors. 7 students were picked from each stratum and asked a simple set of questions.
How long do you brush your teeth?
How many times do you brush your teeth per day?
What technique do you use to brush your teeth (side-side, up-down, combination, or other)
Do you floss your teeth?
Do you brush your tongue?
Do you use water when brushing your teeth?
Do you gargle?
Do you brush your teeth after or before breakfast?
The results were close. The average time spent brushing teeth among KIS students was 02:36 minutes. In contrast, the recommended time by the National Center for Biotechnology Medicine is 3 minutes. The average frequency of brushing teeth was 2.4 times, which is close to the recommended frequency of 2 times.
The technique that was most prevalent in this survey was the up-down with the toothbrush horizontal, which was expected. I was taught that was the optimal method of brushing teeth by my parents. However, the best method, recommended by the ADA, contrary to popular Korean Belief, is to place your toothbrush 45 degrees to your gums and move your toothbrush back and forth. It is recommended to brush all the surfaces of your teeth and clean the back, tilt the toothbrush vertically, and make up-and-down strokes.
75% of participants do not floss, which is likely a product of another Korean myth that flossing will create gaps in your teeth. This information is strictly false. Flossing does not create gaps in teeth, and neither does scaling, an alternate and advanced form of flossing with high-pressure water. Flossing, in actuality, can remove plaques from below the gum line, which can erode tooth enamel and develop into tartar; reduce the likelihood of soreness, puffiness, and unsightly redness of the gums; and reduce the risk of cavities.
Almost every participant (~87%) said that they brush their tongue. This is a good sign because if you do not brush your tongue, you are missing out on a huge chunk of area where mouth bacteria gather and reproduce in colonies, which can cause oral problems if left unchecked. In almost every case, not brushing your tongue results in bad breath or halitosis. It also creates a white tongue, which is generally considered unpleasant to look at.
Dr. Nigel Carter, an expert in dental hygiene, claims that gargling and wetting your toothburhs before brushing are not recommended. This is concerning as almost everyone uses water and gargles (~87% and 90%, respectively) when they brush their teeth. This is because fluoride in almost every toothpaste has the property of ridding bacteria. In fact, brushing’s main purpose is to get fluoride to the teeth. If fluoride comes into contact with water, it is removed from the teeth and loses its effectiveness. It is recommended not to gargle after brushing for the exact same reason. To decrease discomfort without water, he also recommends using a very small amount of toothpaste.
78% of participants brush their teeth after breakfast. This is not a good sign. It is recommended that you brush your teeth before breakfast. This is because overnight, bacteria biofilm grows and matures on your enamel and teeth. When these bacteria come into contact with food (and not dealt with by brushing beforehand), they start to metabolize food into acids almost instantaneously. This increases the likelihood of bad teeth. It is recommended to brush your teeth first and then eat.
If you are worried about bad breath, there are a multitude of methods to get rid of it. It is a common misconception to believe that the primary objective of brushing your teeth is to freshen up your breath for the day when the primary objective is to get fluoride on your teeth and get rid of bacteria. There are other ways to freshen up your breath.
Hopefully, this article sheds some light on some problems with KIS dental hygiene and some solutions to fix them. The population might not be able to be generalized and there will be multitudes of confounding variables. The primary objective of this article was to inform the reader about what THEY might be doing wrong and to help them in the future with this crucial information.