Professional opinion on brush stiffness

[Apollyon]

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OK colleagues - I'm an MD with a dental question (I also have dental problems, but I'll see if I can hit NYU dental clinic - probably caries under a cap - at my hospital, OMFS said that, quickly and easily, they'll extract it - or all of them, if I want - hell, if I manipulate it enough, or get the guts to grab onto it with my Leatherman tool, I won't need them!)...

Oh, the question. All I've ever heard or read was that soft bristles are the way to go. So, why are medium or hard-bristled brushes even available, and, if necessary, why so many? What type of patient need a medium or hard brush?

Also, if my gingiva have receded secondary to exuberant brushing, is a gingival graft the only thing that will fix them? I will NOT start taking Dilantin to grow them back! 😉

 

[bitecys]

You know, we just had a lecture on brushes/dentifrice. Someone in my class asked our dental pharmacologist that same question and the answer is: People think soft brushes are basically for weenies and the manufactures make medium and hard because they SELL! Lots of people buy medium and hard compared to soft.

 

[Dr. Pedo]

apollyon,

Answers to questions:

Recession--- Depends on nature of recession. If plaque/calculus induced than a prophy ought to restore gingival health. Many times recession is age related (but mainly due to more years of plaque related inflammation and poor brushing habits) and in that case gingival graft is best at restoring recession.

Tootbrushes---- Yes, soft bristle is the way to go and recommended by nearly all dental professionals. As for reasons of med and hard bristles----simply marketing! People insist that with harder bristles they can remove more of that sticky plaque/calculus their dentist is always ranting about. So the market appeals to the demand and every competitor must jump-on the trend for fear of looking out-of-date or not on the cutting-edge. Soft bristle has been shown to be no less effective in plaque removal and is more kind to the gingiva.

Good luck with your recurrent caries---if you intend on pulling it yourself make sure you luxate towards the buccal plate first (except mandibular molars)!!!!!😉

 

[Apollyon]

Thanks for the rapid, good responses. When I was taking histo first year, the instructor only gave us the most cursory instruction on dental histology, since we were "in school to be doctors, not dentists". Still, there are some real questions, and you guys have helped.

My tooth bothering me is #30; 30 and 19 are capped, 20 and 29 were extracted due to crowding, and 1,16,17, and 32 were erupted and removed by simple extraction under local.

Wow, cool! Does that make sense, how I described it? (I'm not looking for any more free advice - just trying to talk the lingo.)

And so, since it's a mandibular molar, I can luxate away from the buccal plate. Yeah! If I just keep messing with it, I have this image of it coming out. Then, I'll be between a rock and a hard place - replant a carious tooth, or just leave it out (and get a post denture later). Questions, questions...it's good to be the novice, without some pinhead flaming away.