Dental Care and Arthritis: The Benefits of Electric Toothbrushes

If arthritis affects your hands, then you may find it a lot more difficult to brush your teeth than you used to. Your teeth may be starting to suffer because you find it hard to brush them well.

To make things easier on you, think about using an electric toothbrush. How will this help?

An Easier Grip on the Toothbrush

While you may be able to hold a manual toothbrush, you may lose your grip as you use it. The motion of brushing may be too much for your hand if it has a reduced grip because you may keep dropping the brush. You may also find it hard to close your hand fully around a narrow handle.

Using an electric toothbrush may be easier for you. These brushes usually have thicker handles than manual brushes. The handle houses the brush's battery and mechanics, so it is relatively chunky.

A thicker handle may be easier for you to pick up and keep hold of. You won't have to close your hand as much to get a good grip.

Less Pain When You Brush

If arthritis makes your hands seize up or hurt when you use them, then using a manual toothbrush may be a painful experience for you. The simple act of moving the brush backwards and forwards across your teeth to clean them may hurt. You may also not be able to exert enough pressure on your teeth because your arthritis flares up when you push on the brush.  

So, you may end up giving your teeth a quick once-over rather than an effective clean because you want to keep your pain at bay. This may help your arthritis symptoms but won't do much for your dental health or hygiene.

An electric toothbrush may also help here. You don't have to move your hand back and forth to brush your teeth; all you have to do is hold the brush in place. Its electric head vibrates, oscillates or rotates to do the brushing work for you at the right pressure. This may reduce the pain in your hands without compromising your dental care.

If arthritis is making it difficult to brush your teeth as well as you need to, then ask your dentist for advice. As well as recommending suitable electric toothbrushes, they can also give you tips on other ways to boost your dental care routine to compensate for your condition.


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