You’re brushing all wrong. 5 tips for better oral hygiene from an expert

By Andrea Kane, CNN

(CNN) — Some things in life feel unavoidable: death, taxes and … brushing your teeth.

Yet for all the “practice” you get caring for your pearly whites — ideally, you’re brushing twice a day and flossing daily, year in and year out — you’d think you’d be a pro at it by now.

But the health data tell a different story. Tooth decay, which includes cavities or caries, is the most common noncommunicable disease around the globe, a statistic that holds true even in the United States. That, despite the fact that cavities are largely considered to be avoidable.

“If something that’s almost entirely preventable is the most prevalent disease on the planet among adults and kids, maybe we should reconsider what we’ve been telling people,” dentist and orthodontic specialist Dr. Kami Hoss told CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta recently on his podcast, Chasing Life.

Millions of people who stay on top of daily oral care and twice-yearly dental checkups can still manage to get cavities, noted Hoss, an educator, entrepreneur and author of “If Your Mouth Could Talk: An In-Depth Guide to Oral Health and Its Impact on Your Entire Life.”

Hoss calls the mouth “one of the most important organs” of the body, with a whole world of oral microbes, saliva, soft tissues and bones.

“A lot of people think your mouth is just teeth,” he said, noting it’s intimately connected to the lower jaw and the maxilla, which includes the upper jaw, nasal cavity floor and eye socket orbit. Not to mention, “your tongue posture impacts the way you breathe, your speech and your taste,” he said.

Add to all that, your mouth and teeth also affect the way you look. Oral health “impacts all of these areas,” he said, including “systemic health, mental health, personal successes, professional successes, our dating life, how much money we make.”

You can listen to the full episode here.

Hoss is also passionate about oral health because it affects so many other bodily systems.

“It goes way deeper. For some reason — probably the disconnection between medicine and dentistry — people forget that the mouth is not a separate entity. It is the opening to your body,” Hoss said.

He explained the microbes in a person’s mouth can — especially if there are conditions like bleeding gums, active tooth decay or an imbalanced oral microbiome — release things like toxins, inflammatory cells and free radicals into the bloodstream.

“They can not only damage the blood vessels,” he said. “They can travel to the heart and cause infections or inflammation, they can go to the brain, they can go to joints, they can go to an unborn baby and cause complications.”

But, back to the mouth and the seemingly intractable issue of tooth decay.

“The problem is, if I ask the next 100 people I’m going to see today, ‘How do you get cavities?’ they’re all going to tell me, ‘If you don’t brush your teeth enough and eat a lot of sugar’ — because that’s the message we’ve been given,” Hoss said. “We need to broaden our approach.”

How can you level up your oral care routine to improve your mouth health? Hoss has these five tips.

Don’t brush right after eating

Brushing immediately after a meal is not good for your teeth. It can actually damage them, Hoss said via email.

“After eating or drinking, especially acidic foods, your mouth becomes acidic and your enamel temporarily softens,” he explained. “Brushing during this window can accelerate enamel erosion and tooth sensitivity.”

He said it’s best to wait at least 30 to 60 minutes before brushing. Another option is to neutralize the pH of your mouth with an alkaline oral rinse or mouth spray. Hoss advised looking for a product with a verified alkaline pH that contains no alcohol, artificial dyes or harsh chemicals.

Look beyond fluoride

Oral care has focused almost entirely on fluoride for decades, Hoss said, but fixating on any single ingredient misses the real drivers of oral health.

“Your mouth is a complex system involving enamel, gum tissue, saliva chemistry and a living microbiome,” he explained. “Supporting natural remineralization, maintaining a healthy pH and preserving biological balance all matter.”

He noted that newer approaches focus on rebuilding enamel in a way that more closely mimics how teeth are formed naturally. His go-to ingredient? Products that contain nano-hydroxyapatite, a material similar to natural tooth enamel.

Also, don’t ignore overall nutrition, which should support enamel health as well. Make sure you are getting adequate vitamins D3 and K2, which Hoss said helps guide calcium to where it belongs. Vitamin D, which is produced when sunlight hits your skin, can also be found in mushrooms, egg yolks, fatty fish as well as many fortified milk, non-dairy milk alternatives and yogurt. Vitamin K2, which is not naturally occurring but rather synthesized by bacteria, is associated with fermented foods such as cheese and animal products like chicken.

“Oral health works best when topical care and systemic health are aligned,” he said.

Don’t kill all your mouth’s bacteria

Just as research has shown it’s not wise to kill off all gut bacteria with antibiotics, it is also not healthy to eliminate every “germ” in your mouth. Unfortunately, many products are designed to aggressively wipe out bacteria, Hoss said, adding that might sound beneficial, but the mouth should not be “treated like a surface that needs to be disinfected.”

“Your oral microbiome plays an essential role in protecting teeth, gums and overall health,” he said. “Repeated use of harsh antiseptics or alcohol-based products can disrupt this balance, contributing to dry mouth, inflammation, bad breath and long-term oral health problems.”

Instead, he said, choose formulations designed to support balance in the oral environment, preserve beneficial bacteria, and leave your mouth feeling comfortable and hydrated rather than dry or irritated.

Focus on your brushing routine

Brushing harder and longer does not mean cleaner teeth, Hoss noted, adding that aggressive brushing and outdated brush designs are major contributors to gum recession and enamel wear.

“Tooth sensitivity now affects a large portion of adults, often because bristles are too abrasive or brushing pressure is too high,” he said. “Effective brushing is about precision, not force.”

Instead, Hoss recommends choosing brushes with ultra-soft, well-designed bristles and avoiding excess pressure. If you use an electric brush, choose one with pressure control.

And because toothbrushes can harbor bacteria, Hoss recommended regularly cleaning them ideally with a UV sanitizing system, which helps reduce microbial buildup between uses.

Don’t settle for one-size-fits-all oral care

Your oral care needs to change over your lifetime, Hoss noted. Yet most people use the same products for decades without adjusting their routine.

“Pregnancy, childhood, orthodontic treatment, stress, medications, sleep quality and aging all change saliva composition, tissue response and bacterial balance,” he said. “Personalized, stage-appropriate oral care is one of the most overlooked ways to improve both oral and overall health.”

Choose oral care products designed for your current age, life stage and oral risk factors — not generic solutions. A more tailored approach leads to better comfort, better outcomes and fewer long-term problems, he said.

And please, don’t skip the floss — a dentist can tell!

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CNN Podcasts’ Sofía Sánchez contributed to this report.