Do You Brush Your Teeth Properly?你真的會刷牙嗎？

Brushing your teeth effectively lowers your chances of getting a number of chronic diseases， as well as keeping your teeth and gums healthy. But the majority of us are doing it wrong.

有效刷牙可以降低患上各種慢性疾病的風險，同時也能保持牙齒和牙齦的健康。但我們大多數人刷牙的方式都是錯誤的。

In Sweden， one study found as few as one in 10 people practice the best brushing technique. The British health insurer Bupa found that almost half of respondents did not know how to brush their teeth properly in a survey of 2，000 people in the UK.

瑞典的一項研究發現，只有十分之一的人掌握了最佳的刷牙技巧。英國健康保險公司Bupa在一項涵蓋了2000名英國人的調查中發現，近半數受訪者不知道如何正確刷牙。

So what exactly are most of us getting wrong， and how can we change our routine to make sure we brush our teeth effectively？ Here’s how to properly brush your teeth， according to experts.

那么我們大多數人到底錯在哪里？我們應該如何改變日常習慣以確保有效地刷牙呢？來看看專家們建議的正確刷牙方法吧。

“Lots of patients understand that what they need to do is remove food remnants，” says Josefine Hirschfeld， associate professor and specialist in restorative dentistry at the University of Birmingham in the UK. “That is only partially true. It’s much more important to remove bacteria from the teeth.”

英國伯明翰大學副教授、修復牙科學專家約瑟芬·赫希菲爾德說：“很多患者知道刷牙時需要清除食物殘渣。這種認知只對了一部分。事實上，清除牙齒上的細菌要重要得多。”

These bacteria and other microorganisms grow inside everyone’s mouth， and form a claggy biofilm commonly known as dental plaque. “They are living in the sticky film stuck to the teeth and also to the soft tissues，” says Hirschfeld. “This sticky film can’t be easily washed off—it really needs to be manually cleaned.”

這些細菌和其他微生物在每個人的口腔內生長，并形成被稱為牙菌斑的黏稠生物膜。赫希菲爾德說：“它們生活在黏附在牙齒和軟組織上的黏膜中。這種黏膜無法輕易被沖洗干凈——它真的需要手動清潔。”

The most important place to remove it from is not in fact the teeth， but the gumline. This is where microbes are best able to invade the gum tissue and cause inflammation. In fact， “brushing your teeth” is something of a misnomer. “Think of brushing your gumline， rather than the teeth themselves，” says Hirschfeld. “The teeth will then be brushed automatically.”

最該清潔的部位實際上不是牙齒，而是牙齦。這是微生物最容易入侵牙齦組織并引發炎癥的地方。實際上，“刷牙”這個詞有點用詞不當。赫希菲爾德說：“刷牙該刷的是牙齦，而不是牙齒本身。在刷牙齦時牙齒也會自然而然地被刷到。”

Brushing too hard， especially with a firmer-bristled brush， can cause damage to the gums. Small tears in the soft tissue caused by overzealous brushing are an opportunity for bacteria to enter the bloodstream.

刷牙太用力，特別是使用硬毛牙刷，可能會對牙齦造成創傷。過度用力刷牙造成的軟組織小撕裂讓細菌有了進入血液的機會。

Is it better to brush your teeth before or after breakfast？ It depends on what you’ve had to eat. Acidic food and drink—such as citrus fruit， fruit juice and coffee—would be a reason to brush before rather than after breakfast.

早餐前還是早餐后刷牙更好？這取決于你早餐吃什么。如果你早餐要享用酸性食物和飲料，如柑橘類水果、果汁和咖啡，那么你應該在早餐前刷牙，而不是早餐后。

More important than the breakfast question is the evening brush， which also has a simpler answer： it should always be the last thing you do before bed. “Your saliva is your natural protective mechanism， inhibiting bacterial growth and tooth decay，” says Nigel Carter， chief executive of the Oral Health Foundation in the UK. “The saliva flow reduces overnight， so that’s why it’s very important that all the plaque is cleared away before you sleep.”

相比早餐前還是早餐后刷牙的問題，晚上刷牙的問題更重要，答案也更簡單：刷牙永遠應該是睡覺前做的最后一件事。英國口腔健康基金會首席執行官奈杰爾·卡特說：“你的唾液是你的天然保護機制，可以抑制細菌生長和蛀牙。唾液流動在夜間減少，這就是在睡覺前清除所有牙菌斑尤為重要的原因。”

Spitting out toothpaste when you’re finished but refraining from rinsing helps the fluoride to hang around the teeth longer， for additional protection.

刷完牙后吐出殘余牙膏和泡沫但不要漱口，可以幫助氟化物在牙齒上停留更長時間，從而為牙齒提供額外的保護。

Word Bank

respondent /r?'sp?nd?nt/ n. 回答問題的人；（尤指）調查對象

manually /'m?nj??li/ adv. 手動地；用手

misnomer /'m?s'n??m?（r）/ n. 用詞不當

decay /d?'ke?/ n. 腐爛

refrain /r?'fre?n/ v. 克制；節制；避免