Brushing your teeth properly for two full minutes, especially with an electric toothbrush, is fabulous oral hygiene. Lasting the entire time makes a huge difference to your teeth and your gums. Unfortunately, those two minutes can go by very slowly, causing many people to put their toothbrushes down too soon.
The trick is to combine those two minutes with some other activity and make those two minutes go by in a less maddeningly slow manner. Here are things you can do while brushing your teeth:
1. Condition Your Hair
Conditioning your hair is generally supposed to take one minute but your hair will generally benefit even more if you manage to leave the hair conditioner in for two minutes. This takes a little advance planning, because you need to have your electric toothbrush and your toothpaste within reach of your shower.
The best sequence is to put the conditioner into your hair and then to start brushing your teeth. If you like standing under a stream of warm water, this approach may work well for you.
2. Gentle Exercises
Jumping jacks and sprints may be too intense to try while brushing your teeth, but you can do gentle squats, lunges, and leg lifts (while standing). If you have a staircase, you can go up and down the stairs several times. This approach is good for both your gums and your gams!
3. Light Housework
Generally if you’re brushing your teeth you only have one hand free, but you can use that hand to do a little light housework. You can load the dishwasher, water the plants, or fetch the newspaper. Just be careful, though, because brushing your teeth can be messy – you may want to stay away from the room with the expensive Persian rug.
4. Read the Newspaper
It’s easy to flip through the pages of a newspaper while holding your toothbrush in one hand, and thus catch up on local events. As a newspaper is a disposable item, it doesn’t matter if you get a little toothpaste or slobber on it.
Unfortunately, watching TV while brushing is a little awkward; often the sound of the toothbrush dominates the sound of the TV. You probably want to stay away from the internet, too, so that you don’t get gunk on your screen or your keyboard.
5. Mental Activities
Sometimes you can best while away those two minutes by thinking. You can use this time to plan your day. Perhaps you can decide what you should wear, which stores to go to, or which people to invite to a meeting. If you’re a student you can mentally review words or concepts for a quiz.
You should adapt the suggestions above to your own lifestyle, so that you can easily last the full two minutes with your electric toothbrush. Remember, lasting two full minutes each time you brush your teeth is important.
Not only will your mouth feel truly fresh after 120 seconds, but you will save on dental bills. You may even live longer; good oral hygiene is positively correlated with longevity.1