Power Toothbrush: Good, but Bad

Let me explain why the title may sound confusing, yet still makes sense. I have lived long and have experimented with many kinds of oral hygiene practices. When I say experimented, I mean staying with each method for several years at a stretch.

I started with the only non-foaming Forhans toothpaste available during my childhood and continued using it into my late teens or early twenties—until it disappeared from the market. From there, I moved on to high-end homeopathic toothpastes and several varieties of tooth powders. I have used them all. I have also used hard-bristle toothbrushes, from the old Ajay brand to modern electric ones. Even today, I often use the forefinger method popular in India, along with Ayurvedic tooth powders.

To supplement oral hygiene, I regularly practised oil pulling before brushing. I have also tried various mouthwash liquids over the years. I experimented with neem twigs and babool sticks, though with limited success. Add to this coal-based powders, the pink tooth powders once sold in small paper sachets, and several others that I cannot list here for the sake of brevity. But you get the picture—I have tried almost everything.

For most of my life, my teeth were very strong, even if they were never the whitest or the brightest. I had no dental issues at all until an infection about a decade ago. During that episode, a dentist attempted to extract two teeth when only one was necessary, and ended up breaking off only the top portion, unable to remove it fully from the jaw.

Since then, I have had tooth issues intermittently, though they may not all be related—at least at a preliminary level. Over the last few months, I have been experiencing tooth pain that lasts for a day or two and then settles down on its own. I was unable to determine whether this was a gum issue or a tooth issue. When I visited a dentist about a year ago, she suspected an infection and wanted to extract a tooth—preferably two. I resisted, and the tooth did not trouble me again until this recent episode. It is also possible that this is an entirely different problem.

Based on advice from a young dentist I watched on YouTube, I brought out my electric power toothbrush and started using it over the past few days. What used to be an occasional problem has now become frequent. While using the electric brush, I realised that, unlike manual brushes, it tends to irritate the gums less—which was, incidentally, my main suspicion earlier.

Lately, I have also noticed that my tolerance to hot and cold foods has decreased. This sensitivity has now progressed to the point where even putting tap water into my mouth before brushing causes pain. That is a fairly clear indication that my tooth enamel has eroded. What was once a rare, occasional issue has now become pronounced with the use of the power brush.

Since I am now using the power brush daily and the situation has clearly worsened, I have come to believe that power toothbrushes are harmful to enamel when used over prolonged periods—even if used gently. I have been careful with my teeth since childhood, and perhaps that very caution has contributed to the problem. After all, only humans use toothbrushes. I think a tooth brush should be used to let some saliva and foam to move around to loosen debris from food between tooth. The teeth themselves don't need any cleaning. Removing the debris need last only few seconds of ultra light brushing and only at teeth natural gaps, no more. 

I guess we over clean and in the process risk whole oral hygiene situation. 

The one good thing about the power brush is that it has exposed the issue clearly: this is an enamel problem, and brushing itself is aggravating it. In the end, I am glad I used the power brush long enough to understand that is the culprit in itself, and that the issue is enamel related.