Dental hygiene is crucial to maintaining good oral health, and teeth brushing is an essential part of our daily routine. According to statistics, an average person spends 38.5 days brushing their teeth over their lifetime. This might seem like a lot of time, but when you consider the benefits of brushing your teeth regularly, it’s time well spent.
The American Dental Association (ADA) recommends that we brush our teeth twice a day for two minutes each time. This adds up to four minutes of brushing a day, which might not seem like much, but over a lifetime, it really adds up. If we assume that people start brushing their teeth at the age of three and continue until they are 80 years old, that’s a total of 77 years or 28,105 days of brushing.
With each brushing time lasting four minutes, this means that we spend a total of 112,420 minutes or 1,874 hours brushing our teeth over a lifetime. This might seem like a lot, but when you divide it by the number of days in a year, it works out to be around 25 minutes a day, which is not too bad at all.
But why is it so important to brush our teeth regularly? Well, brushing helps to remove the plaque and bacteria that build up on our teeth throughout the day. If left untreated, this can lead to tooth decay, gum disease, and other oral health problems. Regular brushing, along with flossing and regular visits to the dentist, can help to prevent these issues and keep our teeth and gums healthy.
In addition to the health benefits, regular brushing also helps to keep our breath fresh and our smiles bright. It can also help to prevent staining from coffee, tea, and red wine. Plus, taking the time to brush our teeth twice a day can help to create a sense of routine and promote good habits that extend beyond dental hygiene.
So, while it might seem like a lot of time, the 38.5 days that an average person spends brushing their teeth over their lifetime is time well spent. It’s a small price to pay for good oral health and a bright, confident smile.
If you need brushing instructions, book a dental appointment to learn how. Not everyone actually knows how to brush their teeth, so it is not as crazy as it sounds.