By Kelly Shah, Dental Hygienist at The Dental Clinic Portishead

Patients often ask me what they should be buying — which brush, which paste, which gadget. But the truth is, the biggest improvements to your oral health don’t come from spending more money. They come from technique, timing, and knowing which trends to ignore.

Here’s the advice I give in the chair, every single day.

The one change I’d make to everyone’s routine

If I could change just one thing about every patient’s daily routine, it would be this: brush to the gum line.

I see it constantly. Patients tell me, “I brush twice a day, I floss” — and they genuinely do. But when I look in their mouth, the tooth surfaces are beautifully clean and there’s a strip of plaque sitting right at the bottom, where the tooth meets the gum. They’ve simply not got low enough.

It’s not about whether you brush — it’s about how. Angle your brush down to where your teeth meet your gums, because that’s exactly where gum disease starts.

It’s not just what you eat — it’s when

Everyone knows sugar is the enemy, and plenty of patients proudly tell me they favour water and avoid sweets. Brilliant. But there’s a piece most people have never heard: snacking frequency matters as much as what you snack on.

Your mouth naturally sits at a certain pH balance. Every time you eat or drink something — especially anything acidic, like pineapple — that balance shifts, and while it’s disrupted, your enamel is temporarily weakened. Your mouth then needs time to recover and return to normal.

If you’re grazing all day — a bite of fruit here, a milky coffee there, every hour or so — your mouth never gets that recovery time. Your enamel is essentially under constant attack.

The fix is simple: keep snacks to mealtimes. Eating the same foods in one sitting, rather than spread across the day, gives your teeth far less exposure. Same diet, much less damage.

What’s actually worth your money (and what isn’t)

There are more oral care gadgets on the market than ever, so let me save you some money.

Water flossers: fine — but only as an extra. They’re a good addition alongside manual interdental cleaning, such as TePe interdental brushes or floss. The problem is patients using them instead of flossing. A jet of water alone won’t reliably remove plaque — you need to physically remove it. Gadget second, manual cleaning first.

Charcoal toothpaste: please, just don’t. This is the one I genuinely detest. It’s everywhere on social media, especially with younger patients, marketed as a natural whitener. What it actually does is grind your enamel away — it’s coarse, gritty stuff that acts like sandpaper on your teeth. It causes far more problems than it could ever solve, and enamel doesn’t grow back. If you want whiter teeth, talk to us about safe options instead.

The basics still win. A good brushing technique down to the gum line, cleaning between your teeth manually every day, and sensible snacking habits will do more for your mouth than any gadget on the shelf.

Why one missed brush matters more than you think

Here’s something I don’t think most patients realise: plaque forms from three things — bacteria in your mouth, saliva/oxygen, and food debris. Skip brushing at night after, say, a late sandwich, and by morning that combination has already gone to work. Within about 24 hours, plaque begins hardening into calculus (tartar) — and at that point, no toothbrush on earth will remove it. Only a hygienist can, manually.

That’s why “I’ll just do it in the morning” is a more expensive decision than it feels at the time. Morning and night, every day — your future self will thank you.

Not sure about your technique?

This is exactly what a hygiene appointment is for. I’ll put a mirror in your hand and show you precisely where you’re missing — most patients are genuinely surprised. No judgement, just a better routine.

Book a hygiene appointment with Kelly at The Dental Clinic Portishead — call the practice or book online.