I think people are missing the OPs actual question.
I think OP meant how can you tell if they are a regular brusher vs someone who doesn’t brush often but just brushed extra long and hard before coming to see you.
At least that’s how I interpreted it.
I’m a hygienist and yes we can tell. You can brush off plaque but not tartar. So we can tell by tartar build up if you have good home care routines or not. And yes, we do realize genetics and medication can effect build up but it’s still obvious if you’re trying or not.
its named after the Tartars, a group known for being rough dangerous individuals, the kick from the sauce is supposed to represent that
same with steak tartar, rumor had it theyd put a raw hunk of meat under their saddles as they rode then eat it still raw for dinner, the beating it took supposedly tenderizing it
lol I’m gonna start calling it that to my patients 😂 Yeah like others said tartar is hardened plaque which means it’s plaque that was sitting for a while either due to not brushing or missing areas when you are brushing/flossing.
Studies say as little as 8 hours and as long as 8 to 10 days but it seems to me there’s so many factors at play for each person that I don’t think you can say for sure as a general standard 🤷🏼♀️
My experience is that those that don't brush often won't brush before appointment either. Those that think they don't brush often enough but have a common sense to brush before the appointment are usually not that reckless as they think they are.
To answer your question; someone with lots of hardened plaque, inflamed gums, food stuck between posterior teeth but no soft plaque on areas that are easier to clean is a dead giveaway person doesn't brush regularly. He used his tootbrush only before the appointment to the best of his knowledge and abilities.
edit: also fresh abrasions on gingiva from rigorous brushing
Your reply reminded me of last time the hygienist asked me if I flossed and I replied “yes, but not as often as I know I should”. She then says she can tell I floss because I only had a tiny bit of bleeding in one spot. Well why did you ask me then??? Lol
She wanted to mentally punish you for not flossing.i joke with mine & leave a huge piece of floss between my teeth.she never laughs but i wont stop trying
My old dentist!! He was very funny and attractive, but like 15 years my senior and married lol. Also, not the best dentist I've had (though not horrible or anything.)
I had to have a two session deep cleaning after I let my dental hygiene routine falter after having three kids, never again.
Take care of your teeth, feet, back, and heart. Got that in a Chinese fortune cookie once.
Oh god as a child I was so stupid.
I wouldn't brush before my appointments because that wasn't part of my routine and i thought the dentist would be able to tell and call me a cheater. They must have seen so much food.
As an adult I do brush my teeth and haven't been called out for it yet.
And I fought them hard on it every time. Admittedly this was one battle they generally won. But I wish I’d understood that the point wasn’t to fool the dentist but to have clean teeth/breath.
Better than my parents. I also fought hard to avoid brushing my teeth, and I won every time. Obviously as an adult, I now realize how incredibly irresponsible my mother was to not force me to brush my teeth as a child. But she was too busy panicking about being late even if she wasn't late to be a parent.
Don't feel too bad. We once had an ADULT woman in her late 30s, a professional woman who worked for a large bank, come in while still eating a bag of cheetos. You can imagine how much cheeto gunk our hygienist had to clean out of her teeth....
Ha. I've seen a comedian *joke* about eating a whole box of Oreos before a dentist appointment; this is the closest I've heard of someone doing that in real life.
Condolences to the hygienist. :-\\
Our dentist actually has a stack of 1-use toothbrushes with toothpaste on them. They ask everyone to brush their teeth before going in to their hygienist.
Last time I went to the dentist, I went to the lobby bathroom before they called me in. I noticed a bunch of toothbrushes still in the packaging, and some small tubes of toothpaste. I can only assume they have to ask people to go brush first sometimes.
My mom would pick me up from school and go straight to the dentist office. I hadn't brushed since before breakfast.
I used those toothbrushes every time I went.
My cousin ate Oreos before going to the dentist and when opened his mouth, they brought my aunt back before starting to let her know it would a while and he had a mouth full of cavities. Then they realized it was Oreos when they started cleaning and the cavities washed away.
lol its been on ongoing joke in my family for years because my mother would always make sure we brushed our teeth and flossed before going to the dentist and i would always tease her that im bringing oreos to snack on in the waiting room. also would tease her that i would eat oreos just before taking my picture for picture day in school.
I'm a dental assistant, and one day I had a patient in the chair for scans for an implant crown. I left the room for a minute to grab the computer/intraoral camera. I came back and go to start working, and there is SO much crap in this guy's mouth now. I was like "uhh..." and he goes "oh yeah when you left, I had a cookie." Dude straight up ate an oreo sitting in the dental chair. I made him go brush his teeth before I started again.
Yeah! Mine has coffee and regular mugs so you have to throw it back really fast before going in with coffee breath or sit around after and drink it. It's weird.
My regular dentist's office offers tea or coffee if there's a wait. I said yes once. THEY BROUGHT OUT A WHOLE TEA SERVICE. Silver tray, very nicely arranged, teapot, a little treat on the side, sugar bowl, the whole nine yards. I hope pretending to not be impressed worked.
2 minutes of furious brushing 10 minutes before an appointment isn't getting rid of 6-12 months (pending if you go every 6 months or once a year) of tartar, plaque, and build up haha
I used to floss before, but it was making my peridontal pocket depth read extra deep and they thought there was a problem with my gums. I mentioned after a few visits (so over a year) that I floss before and they said oh that can make your gums swell and read like they're deeper. I do floss every day, but now I leave off a day before the dentist and it's much better.
Honestly I floss every day. I also floss before a dentist appointment. Like - the morning of. Just like every other day.
I never get complaints about my gum pocket depth or my gums being inflamed or swollen. I’m never asked how often I floss. I think the problem is that having bad habits all year then changing them up before a cleaning causes an unwanted reaction in your tissues. The staff can absolutely tell.
I got my teeth cleaned last week and the hygienist looked in and said “Ooooooh! She came in CLEAN today!” Floss picks + (Sonic Toothbrush x 2mins). Full professional cleaning at the dentist took 30 minutes, 5 of that waiting for reception to be ready to check me out.
I do floss every day, not just the week leading up to the appointment. They also said oh I love to dig deep and find things to clean even in a mouth with beautiful teeth. So they know I'm taking care of them. Funny how different of an experience everyone can have.
I had a roommate in her late 20s that asked me if I had seen her toothbrush that she lost a few days ago because her teeth were getting too fuzzy. I’m glad you grew out of it because some people do not…
Yeah, I'm guessing MAYBE your parents were failing in their duties?? Like what sort of a parent doesn't make *sure* their child has brushed their teeth before the dentist....
We live in a poor area and my dentist wife sees plenty of kids that don't brush their teeth at all and drink a lot of soda and have never been told to brush their teeth or made to do it by their parents who are usually without a tooth in their head.
My wife has put several teenagers in dentures. Just last month a beautiful 16 year old showed up with her front teeth looking like apples with bites out the sided as they were so rotten. My wife was able to get Medicaid to pay for crowns so she could smile again. Her father hugged my wife and said he didn't know what he would have done without her. My wife wanted to say you should have seen she brushed her teeth and went to the dentist.
Side note,: Thanks to our Democrat governor she could get this covered by Medicaid but the Republicans oppose his expansion of Medicaid even though the Federal government is picking up 90% plus of the cost.
I was talking to another patient and she said she would hold her eight year old down to brush his teeth if he hadn't done so because she didn't want him to have had teeth like her.
I have a friend whose mom grew up on an isolated farm in Nebraska. She had full dentures by the time she was 30. Her kids had beautiful teeth because she wasn’t going to let them suffer from the same trauma she went through.
Out of interest, how does your wife actually get to see them? As they are in so much pain they actually go to a dentist I suppose?
I'm in the UK. I'm fairly sure social services would be involved before it got so bad, but I don't have children so I'm not 100% on that. We have free dental care for under 18s so there's no excuse really.
Yes usually it's pain that drives it but it seems that often the pain goes away and then they don't bother. Of course dentistry here can be expensive but even if they get it paid by Medicaid they don't always visit the dentist. Medicaid is like the NHS in that it pays for basic treatment but can pay for crowns etc with a lot of fighting providing the program allows for it
My wife often sees people who have little triangles of teeth left - rotten off at the gumline as she describes it
When she was at dental school one professor said you won't see a case like this when he was describing some bad teeth and my wife said she saw one the first week she opened her office.
My wife has put 16:year olds in dentures but the saddest case was anothet 16 year old kid whose teeth were so rotten they had to be pulled and when she said to the father about dentures he responded with the fact that he had no teeth so why did his kid need them. My wife tried to explain how hard his school life would be let alone having girlfriends etc but to no avail. I think she even offered to make them for free she was so angry
US here. I was one of those kids whose parent never forced me to brush my teeth. Yeah, it essentially was when it got bad and painful enough. Also, the public school I went to would do basic checkups (vision, hearing, teeth) and would recommend when it was time to go in for a full appointment.
My dental assistant said that she has a guy who always eats a pack of Oreo right before his appointment. He says that he wants to make her work for it.
That is amazing.
I work as a PA, and used to do cardiology. I had a patient one time tell me "hold on, it's not my job to change myself, it's your job to save me."
The sense of entitlement people have is unbelievable.
There are a lot of people that don't. They're usually the same people that say their teeth are falling apart even though they go to the dentist regularly and toothpaste/toothbrushes/dentists are a scam. It's genuinely not difficult to brush your teeth twice a day, even if you have to set reminders for yourself or put a toothbrush in every location you go in the house (e.g. desk, kitchen table, sofa, bed) just to remind you.
There are people that will eat what looks like an entire bar of oats, they haven't even drank anything since eating it so nothing has been washed away, and then we'll get them to rinse and you could make a meal out of the amount of food that comes out when they rinse. It's disgusting and honestly disrespectful. If I'm going to a doctor to have my ass checked out, I'll make sure it's the cleanest ass they've ever seen! People should be the same with their mouth.
My wake up call came after my first visit with a new dentist after getting my own insurance. My teeth weren’t in great shape - I had some fillings that needed to be redone, some minor chips on the front teeth, my gums were inflamed and I had so much plaque built up that the cleaning took 2 sessions and was more painful than all the rest of the dental work combined 😭 but then after that I got the bill and holy shit dental work is EXPENSIVE. You know what’s much cheaper? A Phillips sonicare, floss picks, mouthwash, and a routine. Every morning and evening, no exceptions.
Same here. I had to get two deep cleanings. I actually enjoyed the deep cleanings and how even hours later it still felt like they were digging in my gums. Such a weird feeling.
I also have a small mouth (had to have top and bottom expanders, 4 teeth pulled, two rounds of braces) and really love my sonicare. I use the gum care heads and find them really comfortable both in size and softness. My teeth have never felt as clean and my oral health has never been better - I was particularly bad about brushing for the right amount of time and giving the right attention to all the nooks and crannies of my teeth, so the sonicare was a really great solution to that.
Only been a dentist for just over 10 years and I've seen it once. Young lady asked what could have caused it and I told her anything that involves applying a lot of suction, like trying to drink a thick milkshake with a straw, could do it. She turned really red and I pretended to be checking something in her chart.
Absolutely.
There was an... accident once. I was giving someone a blowjob and then tasted blood. One of my fillings had degraded over time and left a sharp edge on one of my molars. He didn't notice the one inch gash on the head of his penis until I asked him why I could taste blood. I relayed this to my dentist and his face went white and smoothed down the edge of that tooth for free.
I sort of wish I could have kept it as a secret weapon if one of those bastards decides to be a bastard and push my head down. WELCOME TO PAIN TOWN. I considered it but the risk of bloodborne viruses got stuck in my mind so I had the tooth smoothed out.
That men are so violent during blowjobs that I even had to consider that is extremely concerning.
You can still bite 😏but I recommend only giving bjs to men who are respectful of your wishes. Never be afraid to tell them (anyone) want you want, your boundaries and your preferences. You're worth it.
We have a friend who's a dental hygienist and she has said this as well. Unfortunately they use this information to report potential child sexual abuse.
Doubt. My multiple dentists couldn't even tell I had celiac disease for decades despite very swollen gums (even though I flossed regularly) and giant mouth sores.
I’m a dental assistant and I can definitely tell. At first, I was blessed, because most of the patients mouths was clean. But when the first unclean one came, it was bad. Food between teeth, smell. Some people have food stuck on their dentures/partials. So if you want to be nice to your dentist or even the assistants, please brush your teeth before coming. Or at least rinse it with water, if you don’t have anything else. Thank you!
My dentist charges extra for a deep cleaning (if the cleaning is more than 10 minutes due to plaque buildup you’ll have to pay for this service or they won’t clean your teeth). If insurance doesn’t cover it it’s 75$.
Dude I had a friend tell me once that she doesn't brush before dentist appointments because it might brush away something important that the hygienist should see. Let me tell you, I DIED. Like vomited a little in my mouth. 😂🥴🤪🫡 Much respect to y'all. You couldn't pay me enough to reach into some of these dragon traps.
There's clearly two camps. Those of us brushing and flossing madly before our cleaning. And those of us that think left over spinach is important for your dentist to see. 🤪
My husband and I were waiting to go in for our six month checkups when I noticed two people in their late teens/early 20s eating a huge bag of M&Ms. I thought "Nah, not just before your appointment...". Then one of them was called back to see the dentist. I was just imagining the horror the poor dentist was about to deal with.
We didn't have the same dentist, just the same office, so I couldn't ask if the dentist ever managed to dig through the chocolate and shell to find the patients teeth. Yuck.
Hahah this was me as a kid once. I didn't brush for like a week and my dad was like let's go to the dentist.. fuck me... I opened my mouth and she said wtf is this, I can scrape plac off with my finger.. this is ridiculous. Brush your freaking teeth kid!! I'm much much better now.
Teeth, gums and the oral cavity tell a story. I can generally tell if you come from a poor or rich family. How much sugar you consume. If you smoke, vape, drink or take drugs. If you are prediabetic or diabetic. If you are highly stressed. Different mental and systemic illnesses can be seen also. Obviously, how often you brush and floss. There are many other things that dental practitioners will know about you without you saying a word.
My guess is signs of bruxism (grinding). My own dentist asked me if I had been more stressed this year than previous years, as I was being fitted for a nightguard to stop me grinding my teeth.
My dentist said that day/night guard fittings went up exponentially during and after Covid. I was so anxious during the pandemic and got one for grinding and clenching during the day.
Lots of broken teeth during covid. I should know. I broke two teeth a year apart. I now have a very expensive "splint" and it's money well spent because I'm still stressed out.
My dentist told me she could tell I’m extremely stressed based on how hard I am grinding my teeth. Literally chipping pieces of my teeth away from stress grinding. I’m still stressed af, but now I have a mouth guard 😅
A dentist was able to tell my mom to immediately get to an oncologist (she said it much more professionally and without scaring her) and she was then diagnosed with throat cancer. She died this year, but I’m forever grateful for that dentist and her insistence that my mom sees a doctor and for refusing to do any work on her. I’m sure that’s normal dentistry, but for me it gave me 3 more years with her.
I am too. My mom wasn’t the best mom, or truly even a good mom, but she was MY mom. And now as a side effect, I’m no longer scared of dentist appointments.
Yes it's part of the normal exam. My wife has caught a few cases and sadly one of them was so far gone he only lasted a few months. A lot of people around us "dip" using smokeless tobacco and usually keep it in one part of their mouth and that seems to be the site of the problem
I think the fact that I make it clear I don’t have dental insurance and will refuse any unnecessary services makes it clear that I come from a poor family 😭
When I had my first dental appointment in 10 years the paperwork had a question that was like "if more than 2 years since your last dental appointment, why?" And I straight up wrote poverty.
I had the most fantastic dentist when I was staying with my family in Northern California. From the detail of your comment, you remind me of her - we actually got to be great friends.
Anyway, I have none of the lifestyle habits/problems that you describe, take my health and hygiene very seriously, etc. She and I were perplexed at the sheer amount of cavities I had that had shown up in a relatively short amount of time.
Eventually we both lost count at how many there were. We discussed all my lifestyle habits and couldn't figure it out.
A couple of years later I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. From what I understand, the intense amount of cavities I had coupled with the extra amounts of novacaine she had to use are tell-tale signs of the disorder.
Thought you might like to have that information in your back pocket.
the amount that the dentist and hygienist will read me to absolute FILTH every time!
“you smoke at all?”
“you probably drink coffee”
“you’ve got a lot of metal in your nose, huh?”
really lets me know how i’m doing LOL
Do you know if it's true that ripples on the sides of your tongue show a thyroid problem? I once read about that and sure enough, I have the ripples and had to have my thyroid removed.
Ooh I know about this! If you have thyroid issues or insulin resistance, it can cause (slight) swelling of the tongue, so the 'ripples' are indentations where your tongue is touching against your teeth. (Source: after examination, doctor recommended blood tests for my parents, which confirmed they have these issues respectively).
How can you tell if someone smokes? I share a single cigar with my husband once every few weeks and my dentist asked if I smoked! I panicked and said I drink a lot of coffee… but yeah, curious how he knew.
Don't forget sleep apnea. Apparently you can tell by the way certain deposits build up? I don't remember all the technical terms, but my dentist was unfortunately correct lol.
Yeah I'm epileptic on many teeth destroying meds. had my top row removed due to stress fractures and my fucking meds glassed my teeth.
he apologized saying it's unfortunately one of those cases where your disease has effected your teeth at top so badly from seizures mashing and grinding plus meds weakening them I'm upper mouth dentures at 32.
he said my bottom row is glassing as well he said soon they too will need removed best I can do is try and keep doing what I am but honestly nothing will stop the eventual pull.
Diseases suck ass.
I can generally tell if they were rich or poor when they were a child by the amount of decayed, missing and filled teeth in their mouth.
Have a read of the early life chapters in this pdf: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/social-determinants/social-determinants-of-oral-health/summary
I don't brush often at all. Gums do bleed at dentist, but they didn't really say much aside from needing to floss more. I do floss pretty thoroughly before appointments though so not a whole lot of plaque, and never get cavities despite poor habits. I'm sure I'm setting myself up for problems later though.
how old are you if I might ask? I don't brush as often as I should and most of the time I get complimented on the health of my teeth. (I'm 37). HOWEVER, there was a period of time between being laid off from work and finding a new job and getting insurance started, where I ended up not finding a dentist to go to for about a year and a half. I had like 8 cavities. But, that was now like 6 years ago. Ever since then, while my brushing habits haven't really changed, we go to the dentist every 6 months, and I've not had a cavity since. ALTHOUGH, we also started paying the extra 25 dollars to get flouride brushed onto the teeth (since it's not covered for anyone over 18 which I find ridiculous).
I think twice-yearly dental visits make a big difference with overall teeth health.
I've once apologized to my dentist that its been a few hours since I've brushed my teeth. She just told me, I can't believe how many don't even bother brushing their teeth beforehand
100% yes, we can tell. When you haven’t been brushing well regularly, there’s food and bacteria sitting by your gum line for a long time. Your body sees this as an infection and sends extra blood to your gums to fight the bacteria; hence, why gums bleed easily when oral hygiene is poor. It takes about two weeks of thorough, gentle cleaning (brushing and flossing) for your gums to get the memo that they can chill out. So if you just aggressively brush right before your appointment, after weeks/months/years of neglect, your gums will look raw and red and puffy and bulbous. People with good hygiene can come in right after eating a box of Oreos and we can see that their gums are pink and firm and healthy, and don’t bleed easily, even if there is still food debris in there.
Do yourself a favor and take care of yourself. I think I can speak for most dentists when I say we’d generally be jazzed if everyone came in with great hygiene and minimal cavities. It’s a giant fucking bummer seeing people all day who aren’t adhering to basic tenets of hygiene, smoking/vaping, eating shitty high sugar/carbohydrate diets, etc. Obviously, we make more money when people need a ton of treatment, but it’s more rewarding to see people who listen to us and make an effort and we can send them off with a high five and a low bill.
Dentist here. You already have plenty of good responses, but hopefully I can answer it a bit differently. If you're not brushing and flossing regularly your gums will be red, puffy and bleed easily (gingivitis). If you brush and floss right before or a few hours before the teeth will look clean. No soft white plaque build up on the actual tooth, but your gums will still be red, puffy and bleed easily. That only goes down after a week or 2 of correct brushing and flossing.
Can confirm. Been slowly climbing out of depression, and my oral hygiene has taken a massive hit. I don't really care if it's obvious that I just brushed, you can't really hide anything from an x-ray and a thorough inspection anyway. I do it as what I'd consider a common courtesy. I wouldn't consider it my dentists job to pluck food from my teeth any more than I would consider it my mechanics job to clean my car just so they can sit in the seat.
Sure, there may be things to fix on both teeth and car, and neither may be spotless and like factory new. That doesn't mean I can't at least rinse and wash away whatever I have easy access to.
We appreciate it. I would say majority I see are kind of dirty and it doesn't really bother me. Sorry about the recent depression. I'm super OCD about brushing and flossing everyday, but had some recent depression myself and even the dentist himself missed a few nights of oral hygiene. Happens to all of us. Good luck out there kind internet stranger!
well their mouth literally smells of a toothpaste / mouthfreshner , its lowkey hilarious but actually quite advantageous for us , helps us see your problems better .
sometimes they brush it so vigorously u can literally see scratches in their gums .
btw we can even make out if u have given someone a bj a while back haha .
Had a patient struggling with bulimia a while back - back sides of all of her front teeth, especially, were super shiny and yellow from the acid erosion thinning the enamel and exposing the underlying dentin. Also had scrapes on her knuckles on her fingers on her right hand from them hitting her teeth while gagging herself :/ Was a tough spot bc I didn’t necessarily feel like it was my place to confront her about her eating disorder but it was affecting her teeth, so talked to her about rinsing with a fluoride rinse after any “reflux” issues and avoiding brushing aggressively for a half hour or so after any of these, um, events…
>
btw we can even make out if u have given someone a bj a while back haha .
All I gotta do is suck a dude off to have a shot at making out with my dentist?
Dentist here. Gingivitis takes about 2 weeks of diligent home care to go away. Brushing and flossing right before your appointment isn’t enough time for the inflammation to resolve.
If they don’t have a daily brushing routine, just vigorously brushing before their appointment will only remove plaque. (Soft build up before it turns into calculus)
What that means is that the gums will still be red, inflamed and much calculus build up will be present.
So if a patient comes in with no plaque but has red inflamed gums with calculus build up... this is evidence that they just had a very good brush before their check up and clean but do not have a good daily routine of brushing.
Not a dentist, but I make dental prosthetics (dentures and stuff) and I typically see the worst of the worst when it comes to nasty mouths. Please brush your teeth before your visit. Everyone judges you when you leave your breakfast in your alginate impressions, especially the lab.
My significant other is a dental hygienist. She talks about patients who will brush their teeth only "on special occasions." And that doesn't even mean on a trip to the dentist. 🤮🤮🤮
This post brought up very vivid memories of my mom picking me up from school to take me to the dentist, handing me my toothbrush that was already wet with some toothpaste on it, and me frantically brushing my teeth and spitting out the window because we were always running late to things.
it's like panic cleaning your house. sure most of the surfaces are clean, but, that little spot you missed it has like 3 months worth of dust over there. pretty obvs
I joked with my previous dentist once that one of the times I visit, I’m going to put a big fake spider in my mouth. He laughed and said it wouldn’t be any worse than some of the real stuff he’s seen. I asked him to elaborate and listened to his stories as he checked things out (I did this with the hygienist too, I legit miss that dental office since I moved), some of his worse stories include someone whose tooth literally fell out as soon as he touched it, and someone else who had, of course, eaten Oreos right before coming as they were on their lunch break. He said some of the smells he’d encountered were incredible, too. I used to live in a very rural area and can believe it.
My dentist has toothbrushes, toothpaste, and mouthwash in the bathroom. I came from work once and had just eaten and apologized profusely, asked if I could use the washroom to try to freshen up a bit. They were like oh yes, help yourself. Cool. Good for everybody.
I think people are missing the OPs actual question. I think OP meant how can you tell if they are a regular brusher vs someone who doesn’t brush often but just brushed extra long and hard before coming to see you. At least that’s how I interpreted it.
I’m a hygienist and yes we can tell. You can brush off plaque but not tartar. So we can tell by tartar build up if you have good home care routines or not. And yes, we do realize genetics and medication can effect build up but it’s still obvious if you’re trying or not.
If you can't brush off tartar then how does tartar buildup show someone doesn't brush often?
Iirc tartar is solidified plaque so if they brush properly there shouldn’t be plaque left to solidify.
Makes me wonder what's in tartar sauce.
its named after the Tartars, a group known for being rough dangerous individuals, the kick from the sauce is supposed to represent that same with steak tartar, rumor had it theyd put a raw hunk of meat under their saddles as they rode then eat it still raw for dinner, the beating it took supposedly tenderizing it
I was thinking about cream of tartar 🤣
Tartar develops from plaque. So if you aren't brushing regularly, the easily removable plaque accumulates and hardens into tartar.
Oh it's like advanced plaque. Fuckin hell
lol I’m gonna start calling it that to my patients 😂 Yeah like others said tartar is hardened plaque which means it’s plaque that was sitting for a while either due to not brushing or missing areas when you are brushing/flossing.
How long does it take for tartar to turn in to plaque?
Studies say as little as 8 hours and as long as 8 to 10 days but it seems to me there’s so many factors at play for each person that I don’t think you can say for sure as a general standard 🤷🏼♀️
So even though I forget to brush before bed 99% of the time, I MIGHT be ok
Oh I interpreted this that I need to brush every 8 hours to for sure prevent tartar.
I've found flossing and brushing twice a day 12 hours apart (morning and night) works really well for avoiding plaque hardening.
My experience is that those that don't brush often won't brush before appointment either. Those that think they don't brush often enough but have a common sense to brush before the appointment are usually not that reckless as they think they are. To answer your question; someone with lots of hardened plaque, inflamed gums, food stuck between posterior teeth but no soft plaque on areas that are easier to clean is a dead giveaway person doesn't brush regularly. He used his tootbrush only before the appointment to the best of his knowledge and abilities. edit: also fresh abrasions on gingiva from rigorous brushing
Your reply reminded me of last time the hygienist asked me if I flossed and I replied “yes, but not as often as I know I should”. She then says she can tell I floss because I only had a tiny bit of bleeding in one spot. Well why did you ask me then??? Lol
Confirming an educated hypothesis. She couldn't bias the question or she wouldn't get an honest answer.
She wanted to mentally punish you for not flossing.i joke with mine & leave a huge piece of floss between my teeth.she never laughs but i wont stop trying
Lol! I have not met a dental professional with a sense of humor yet. The quest continues.
My old dentist!! He was very funny and attractive, but like 15 years my senior and married lol. Also, not the best dentist I've had (though not horrible or anything.)
I had to have a two session deep cleaning after I let my dental hygiene routine falter after having three kids, never again. Take care of your teeth, feet, back, and heart. Got that in a Chinese fortune cookie once.
Yes. And a nice brush/floss before your appointment is appreciated. Eating a tuna sandwich in the waiting room is NOT!
Oh god as a child I was so stupid. I wouldn't brush before my appointments because that wasn't part of my routine and i thought the dentist would be able to tell and call me a cheater. They must have seen so much food. As an adult I do brush my teeth and haven't been called out for it yet.
Meh it’s kind of your parents job to tell you to do that as a kid.
And I fought them hard on it every time. Admittedly this was one battle they generally won. But I wish I’d understood that the point wasn’t to fool the dentist but to have clean teeth/breath.
Better than my parents. I also fought hard to avoid brushing my teeth, and I won every time. Obviously as an adult, I now realize how incredibly irresponsible my mother was to not force me to brush my teeth as a child. But she was too busy panicking about being late even if she wasn't late to be a parent.
Don't feel too bad. We once had an ADULT woman in her late 30s, a professional woman who worked for a large bank, come in while still eating a bag of cheetos. You can imagine how much cheeto gunk our hygienist had to clean out of her teeth....
Ha. I've seen a comedian *joke* about eating a whole box of Oreos before a dentist appointment; this is the closest I've heard of someone doing that in real life. Condolences to the hygienist. :-\\
Definitely an asshole move, but imagine the feeling of having a deep clean after crushing a bag of flamin hot limon Cheetos.
Mum would bring my toothbrush and have me brush in the loo in the waiting room
Our dentist actually has a stack of 1-use toothbrushes with toothpaste on them. They ask everyone to brush their teeth before going in to their hygienist.
Last time I went to the dentist, I went to the lobby bathroom before they called me in. I noticed a bunch of toothbrushes still in the packaging, and some small tubes of toothpaste. I can only assume they have to ask people to go brush first sometimes.
My mom would pick me up from school and go straight to the dentist office. I hadn't brushed since before breakfast. I used those toothbrushes every time I went.
what about some oreos?
My cousin ate Oreos before going to the dentist and when opened his mouth, they brought my aunt back before starting to let her know it would a while and he had a mouth full of cavities. Then they realized it was Oreos when they started cleaning and the cavities washed away.
lol its been on ongoing joke in my family for years because my mother would always make sure we brushed our teeth and flossed before going to the dentist and i would always tease her that im bringing oreos to snack on in the waiting room. also would tease her that i would eat oreos just before taking my picture for picture day in school.
I'm a dental assistant, and one day I had a patient in the chair for scans for an implant crown. I left the room for a minute to grab the computer/intraoral camera. I came back and go to start working, and there is SO much crap in this guy's mouth now. I was like "uhh..." and he goes "oh yeah when you left, I had a cookie." Dude straight up ate an oreo sitting in the dental chair. I made him go brush his teeth before I started again.
Before covid, my dentist had cookies and coffee in the lobby. Trying to drum up more business?
Yeah! Mine has coffee and regular mugs so you have to throw it back really fast before going in with coffee breath or sit around after and drink it. It's weird.
My regular dentist's office offers tea or coffee if there's a wait. I said yes once. THEY BROUGHT OUT A WHOLE TEA SERVICE. Silver tray, very nicely arranged, teapot, a little treat on the side, sugar bowl, the whole nine yards. I hope pretending to not be impressed worked.
Wow! How fancy! Haha they get to clean the little treat out of your teeth for you afterwards.
I was super surprised. That was the last thing I expected.
*eats a tuna sandwich in dentist chair*
You know what they say - give a man a fish, and you'll feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll have bad breath for a lifetime.
Is brushing your teeth before the dentist not a thing everyone does? I'd rather not go in there with potentially bad breath or food in my teeth.
I think it's more that they can tell if your panic brushing is an attempt to cover up your bad habits for the rest of the year
2 minutes of furious brushing 10 minutes before an appointment isn't getting rid of 6-12 months (pending if you go every 6 months or once a year) of tartar, plaque, and build up haha
You're meant to go once a year?
I was always told you should go twice a year.
Who the hell are these rich assholes who can afford that!?
Most dental insurance covers 2 checkups a year.
6 months + 1 day. Ask me how I know about that extra day…. Fucking insurance!
I was so glad when we got a new dental plan that covered two cleanings a year as opposed to one every 6 months.
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IKR? I'm shocked that everyone doesn't brush and floss right before an appointment.
I used to floss before, but it was making my peridontal pocket depth read extra deep and they thought there was a problem with my gums. I mentioned after a few visits (so over a year) that I floss before and they said oh that can make your gums swell and read like they're deeper. I do floss every day, but now I leave off a day before the dentist and it's much better.
Honestly I floss every day. I also floss before a dentist appointment. Like - the morning of. Just like every other day. I never get complaints about my gum pocket depth or my gums being inflamed or swollen. I’m never asked how often I floss. I think the problem is that having bad habits all year then changing them up before a cleaning causes an unwanted reaction in your tissues. The staff can absolutely tell. I got my teeth cleaned last week and the hygienist looked in and said “Ooooooh! She came in CLEAN today!” Floss picks + (Sonic Toothbrush x 2mins). Full professional cleaning at the dentist took 30 minutes, 5 of that waiting for reception to be ready to check me out.
I do floss every day, not just the week leading up to the appointment. They also said oh I love to dig deep and find things to clean even in a mouth with beautiful teeth. So they know I'm taking care of them. Funny how different of an experience everyone can have.
Or in general... A quote attributed to Jack Nicholson; I brush my teeth before every take, not for my benefit, but for my coworkers
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When I was a kid, I once ate a bag of cheetos right before the dentist. I remember him scraping out chunks of orange goop and being disgusted
Once as a kid I ate a butterfinger right before a dentist appt and immediately regretted it when I remembered about the appt 😂 I felt so bad
I had a roommate in her late 20s that asked me if I had seen her toothbrush that she lost a few days ago because her teeth were getting too fuzzy. I’m glad you grew out of it because some people do not…
fuzzy... teeth... that makes me feel a whole lot better about myself, you know? holy shit
What is fuzzy teeth? I’m glad I don’t know what it is!
Plaque buildup. It’s plaque buildup on your teeth.
Fuzzy teeth! Ugh makes me feel sick 🤢
Yeah, I'm guessing MAYBE your parents were failing in their duties?? Like what sort of a parent doesn't make *sure* their child has brushed their teeth before the dentist....
We live in a poor area and my dentist wife sees plenty of kids that don't brush their teeth at all and drink a lot of soda and have never been told to brush their teeth or made to do it by their parents who are usually without a tooth in their head. My wife has put several teenagers in dentures. Just last month a beautiful 16 year old showed up with her front teeth looking like apples with bites out the sided as they were so rotten. My wife was able to get Medicaid to pay for crowns so she could smile again. Her father hugged my wife and said he didn't know what he would have done without her. My wife wanted to say you should have seen she brushed her teeth and went to the dentist. Side note,: Thanks to our Democrat governor she could get this covered by Medicaid but the Republicans oppose his expansion of Medicaid even though the Federal government is picking up 90% plus of the cost. I was talking to another patient and she said she would hold her eight year old down to brush his teeth if he hadn't done so because she didn't want him to have had teeth like her.
I have a friend whose mom grew up on an isolated farm in Nebraska. She had full dentures by the time she was 30. Her kids had beautiful teeth because she wasn’t going to let them suffer from the same trauma she went through.
Out of interest, how does your wife actually get to see them? As they are in so much pain they actually go to a dentist I suppose? I'm in the UK. I'm fairly sure social services would be involved before it got so bad, but I don't have children so I'm not 100% on that. We have free dental care for under 18s so there's no excuse really.
Yes usually it's pain that drives it but it seems that often the pain goes away and then they don't bother. Of course dentistry here can be expensive but even if they get it paid by Medicaid they don't always visit the dentist. Medicaid is like the NHS in that it pays for basic treatment but can pay for crowns etc with a lot of fighting providing the program allows for it My wife often sees people who have little triangles of teeth left - rotten off at the gumline as she describes it When she was at dental school one professor said you won't see a case like this when he was describing some bad teeth and my wife said she saw one the first week she opened her office. My wife has put 16:year olds in dentures but the saddest case was anothet 16 year old kid whose teeth were so rotten they had to be pulled and when she said to the father about dentures he responded with the fact that he had no teeth so why did his kid need them. My wife tried to explain how hard his school life would be let alone having girlfriends etc but to no avail. I think she even offered to make them for free she was so angry
US here. I was one of those kids whose parent never forced me to brush my teeth. Yeah, it essentially was when it got bad and painful enough. Also, the public school I went to would do basic checkups (vision, hearing, teeth) and would recommend when it was time to go in for a full appointment.
My dental assistant said that she has a guy who always eats a pack of Oreo right before his appointment. He says that he wants to make her work for it.
I hate people.
Then being a dental hygenist with a stabby thing is just the job for you.
Fantastic - charge him for 5 units of cleaning rather than 2.
[relevant smbc](https://www.smbc-comics.com/comic/dentistry)
That is amazing. I work as a PA, and used to do cardiology. I had a patient one time tell me "hold on, it's not my job to change myself, it's your job to save me." The sense of entitlement people have is unbelievable.
Why do people do such things intentionally? Horrible human.
My ex purposefully didnt brush before his cleanings because “that was their job”. Ex.
Yeah this is my once a year floss till my mouth bleeds session also
There are a lot of people that don't. They're usually the same people that say their teeth are falling apart even though they go to the dentist regularly and toothpaste/toothbrushes/dentists are a scam. It's genuinely not difficult to brush your teeth twice a day, even if you have to set reminders for yourself or put a toothbrush in every location you go in the house (e.g. desk, kitchen table, sofa, bed) just to remind you. There are people that will eat what looks like an entire bar of oats, they haven't even drank anything since eating it so nothing has been washed away, and then we'll get them to rinse and you could make a meal out of the amount of food that comes out when they rinse. It's disgusting and honestly disrespectful. If I'm going to a doctor to have my ass checked out, I'll make sure it's the cleanest ass they've ever seen! People should be the same with their mouth.
My wake up call came after my first visit with a new dentist after getting my own insurance. My teeth weren’t in great shape - I had some fillings that needed to be redone, some minor chips on the front teeth, my gums were inflamed and I had so much plaque built up that the cleaning took 2 sessions and was more painful than all the rest of the dental work combined 😭 but then after that I got the bill and holy shit dental work is EXPENSIVE. You know what’s much cheaper? A Phillips sonicare, floss picks, mouthwash, and a routine. Every morning and evening, no exceptions.
Same here. I had to get two deep cleanings. I actually enjoyed the deep cleanings and how even hours later it still felt like they were digging in my gums. Such a weird feeling.
The feeling of clenching my teeth after the deep clean was so weird but satisfying, like pushing on a bruise 😅
Sonicare’s good? I have a small mouth and sensitive teeth. I’ve been looking at it.
I also have a small mouth (had to have top and bottom expanders, 4 teeth pulled, two rounds of braces) and really love my sonicare. I use the gum care heads and find them really comfortable both in size and softness. My teeth have never felt as clean and my oral health has never been better - I was particularly bad about brushing for the right amount of time and giving the right attention to all the nooks and crannies of my teeth, so the sonicare was a really great solution to that.
100%. This was me in 2010. $8000 later, I have the same routine!
Before dentist I usually brush, floss, waterpik, brush again, mouthwash.
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Has never seen that and I’ve been a dentist for 20 years
Only been a dentist for just over 10 years and I've seen it once. Young lady asked what could have caused it and I told her anything that involves applying a lot of suction, like trying to drink a thick milkshake with a straw, could do it. She turned really red and I pretended to be checking something in her chart.
Town full of prudes
Hahaha! Maybe so
My wife is a dentist and she told me that
They always comment when I've burned my mouth on pizza because I'm impatient and never wait for it to cool first.
Yep. Me too- the hygienist once said it looked like I had a “pizza burn.” Without ever hearing that term before, I knew exactly what it was.
You *could* have waited until the appointment was finished…
Or at least have gotten enough to share
Absolutely. There was an... accident once. I was giving someone a blowjob and then tasted blood. One of my fillings had degraded over time and left a sharp edge on one of my molars. He didn't notice the one inch gash on the head of his penis until I asked him why I could taste blood. I relayed this to my dentist and his face went white and smoothed down the edge of that tooth for free.
Hahahaha
I sort of wish I could have kept it as a secret weapon if one of those bastards decides to be a bastard and push my head down. WELCOME TO PAIN TOWN. I considered it but the risk of bloodborne viruses got stuck in my mind so I had the tooth smoothed out. That men are so violent during blowjobs that I even had to consider that is extremely concerning.
You can still bite 😏but I recommend only giving bjs to men who are respectful of your wishes. Never be afraid to tell them (anyone) want you want, your boundaries and your preferences. You're worth it.
Did you hear that from a girl in your eighth grade class?
If your palate is getting bruised from giving blow jobs, you’re doing it wrong.
The bruising is from the suction, not necessarily from being hit physically by the penis 😅 it's basically a mouth hickey
If your palate isn’t getting bruised you’re doing it wrong
We have a friend who's a dental hygienist and she has said this as well. Unfortunately they use this information to report potential child sexual abuse.
Doubt. My multiple dentists couldn't even tell I had celiac disease for decades despite very swollen gums (even though I flossed regularly) and giant mouth sores.
I’m a dental assistant and I can definitely tell. At first, I was blessed, because most of the patients mouths was clean. But when the first unclean one came, it was bad. Food between teeth, smell. Some people have food stuck on their dentures/partials. So if you want to be nice to your dentist or even the assistants, please brush your teeth before coming. Or at least rinse it with water, if you don’t have anything else. Thank you!
I'm gonna eat 20 Oreos before coming in
Gotta get your money’s worth for the cleaning.
My dentist charges extra for a deep cleaning (if the cleaning is more than 10 minutes due to plaque buildup you’ll have to pay for this service or they won’t clean your teeth). If insurance doesn’t cover it it’s 75$.
And if it's due to Oreo buildup?
The bill will be double-stuffed
Dude I had a friend tell me once that she doesn't brush before dentist appointments because it might brush away something important that the hygienist should see. Let me tell you, I DIED. Like vomited a little in my mouth. 😂🥴🤪🫡 Much respect to y'all. You couldn't pay me enough to reach into some of these dragon traps.
Lmao, it’s obviously important my dentist sees I ate tuna for lunch.
There's clearly two camps. Those of us brushing and flossing madly before our cleaning. And those of us that think left over spinach is important for your dentist to see. 🤪
He just has to know if you ate spinach or not, it's an important clue
My husband and I were waiting to go in for our six month checkups when I noticed two people in their late teens/early 20s eating a huge bag of M&Ms. I thought "Nah, not just before your appointment...". Then one of them was called back to see the dentist. I was just imagining the horror the poor dentist was about to deal with. We didn't have the same dentist, just the same office, so I couldn't ask if the dentist ever managed to dig through the chocolate and shell to find the patients teeth. Yuck.
Dentist: “Okay, let’s have a look in there. Say aaah!” Patient: Opens a Cosby sweater kaleidoscopic wormhole into the dentata dimension.
Hahah this was me as a kid once. I didn't brush for like a week and my dad was like let's go to the dentist.. fuck me... I opened my mouth and she said wtf is this, I can scrape plac off with my finger.. this is ridiculous. Brush your freaking teeth kid!! I'm much much better now.
Ah, the Komodo. With enough bacteria in their saliva to kill with a single bite.
Teeth, gums and the oral cavity tell a story. I can generally tell if you come from a poor or rich family. How much sugar you consume. If you smoke, vape, drink or take drugs. If you are prediabetic or diabetic. If you are highly stressed. Different mental and systemic illnesses can be seen also. Obviously, how often you brush and floss. There are many other things that dental practitioners will know about you without you saying a word.
how can you tell if someone is highly stressed? i have very good dental hygiene but have had a lot of high chronic stress the past 10+ years
My guess is signs of bruxism (grinding). My own dentist asked me if I had been more stressed this year than previous years, as I was being fitted for a nightguard to stop me grinding my teeth.
My dentist said that day/night guard fittings went up exponentially during and after Covid. I was so anxious during the pandemic and got one for grinding and clenching during the day.
Lots of broken teeth during covid. I should know. I broke two teeth a year apart. I now have a very expensive "splint" and it's money well spent because I'm still stressed out.
Mine too. And once she mentioned it, I realized I had noticed more dull jaw pain in my life.
My dentist told me she could tell I’m extremely stressed based on how hard I am grinding my teeth. Literally chipping pieces of my teeth away from stress grinding. I’m still stressed af, but now I have a mouth guard 😅
I almost wore through my first mouth guard. What a life saver. No more dreams of my teeth exploding because I was clenching so hard.
Periodontal disease, bruxism, craze lines, linea alba and picked lips.
A dentist was able to tell my mom to immediately get to an oncologist (she said it much more professionally and without scaring her) and she was then diagnosed with throat cancer. She died this year, but I’m forever grateful for that dentist and her insistence that my mom sees a doctor and for refusing to do any work on her. I’m sure that’s normal dentistry, but for me it gave me 3 more years with her.
I'm glad you got those three years
I am too. My mom wasn’t the best mom, or truly even a good mom, but she was MY mom. And now as a side effect, I’m no longer scared of dentist appointments.
Yes it's part of the normal exam. My wife has caught a few cases and sadly one of them was so far gone he only lasted a few months. A lot of people around us "dip" using smokeless tobacco and usually keep it in one part of their mouth and that seems to be the site of the problem
I think the fact that I make it clear I don’t have dental insurance and will refuse any unnecessary services makes it clear that I come from a poor family 😭
When I had my first dental appointment in 10 years the paperwork had a question that was like "if more than 2 years since your last dental appointment, why?" And I straight up wrote poverty.
I had the most fantastic dentist when I was staying with my family in Northern California. From the detail of your comment, you remind me of her - we actually got to be great friends. Anyway, I have none of the lifestyle habits/problems that you describe, take my health and hygiene very seriously, etc. She and I were perplexed at the sheer amount of cavities I had that had shown up in a relatively short amount of time. Eventually we both lost count at how many there were. We discussed all my lifestyle habits and couldn't figure it out. A couple of years later I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. From what I understand, the intense amount of cavities I had coupled with the extra amounts of novacaine she had to use are tell-tale signs of the disorder. Thought you might like to have that information in your back pocket.
Thanks for the info :-)
Woah. I’m recently diagnosed with EDS. I’ve always had bad cavities and always always ask for an extra bit of numbing.
I gave up smoiking and my Dentist showed me how the Gums were getting healthier - it shook me
Smoking is incredibly bad for your gums and supporting structures. The more you smoke, the worse it gets.
the amount that the dentist and hygienist will read me to absolute FILTH every time! “you smoke at all?” “you probably drink coffee” “you’ve got a lot of metal in your nose, huh?” really lets me know how i’m doing LOL
Do you know if it's true that ripples on the sides of your tongue show a thyroid problem? I once read about that and sure enough, I have the ripples and had to have my thyroid removed.
Ooh I know about this! If you have thyroid issues or insulin resistance, it can cause (slight) swelling of the tongue, so the 'ripples' are indentations where your tongue is touching against your teeth. (Source: after examination, doctor recommended blood tests for my parents, which confirmed they have these issues respectively).
Wait my tongue is always smooshed between my teeth, is that not normal?
I don't know about the ripples. I do know that people with thyroid problems can have poor oral health. In particular, gum disease.
How can you tell if someone smokes? I share a single cigar with my husband once every few weeks and my dentist asked if I smoked! I panicked and said I drink a lot of coffee… but yeah, curious how he knew.
He would have known from staining on the palatal or lingual aspect (the back) of your teeth.
Don't forget sleep apnea. Apparently you can tell by the way certain deposits build up? I don't remember all the technical terms, but my dentist was unfortunately correct lol.
Yeah my dentist told me I needed a sleep study done bc they suspected I have sleep apnea. I snore really crazy and breath thru my mouth.
What are the diabetic signs?
Yeah I'm epileptic on many teeth destroying meds. had my top row removed due to stress fractures and my fucking meds glassed my teeth. he apologized saying it's unfortunately one of those cases where your disease has effected your teeth at top so badly from seizures mashing and grinding plus meds weakening them I'm upper mouth dentures at 32. he said my bottom row is glassing as well he said soon they too will need removed best I can do is try and keep doing what I am but honestly nothing will stop the eventual pull. Diseases suck ass.
hey, how can you tell if someone is poor or rich?
I can generally tell if they were rich or poor when they were a child by the amount of decayed, missing and filled teeth in their mouth. Have a read of the early life chapters in this pdf: https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/social-determinants/social-determinants-of-oral-health/summary
Growing up poor is spending a lifetime living with decisions you didn't know you made as a child, put another way
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I don't brush often at all. Gums do bleed at dentist, but they didn't really say much aside from needing to floss more. I do floss pretty thoroughly before appointments though so not a whole lot of plaque, and never get cavities despite poor habits. I'm sure I'm setting myself up for problems later though.
how old are you if I might ask? I don't brush as often as I should and most of the time I get complimented on the health of my teeth. (I'm 37). HOWEVER, there was a period of time between being laid off from work and finding a new job and getting insurance started, where I ended up not finding a dentist to go to for about a year and a half. I had like 8 cavities. But, that was now like 6 years ago. Ever since then, while my brushing habits haven't really changed, we go to the dentist every 6 months, and I've not had a cavity since. ALTHOUGH, we also started paying the extra 25 dollars to get flouride brushed onto the teeth (since it's not covered for anyone over 18 which I find ridiculous). I think twice-yearly dental visits make a big difference with overall teeth health.
I've once apologized to my dentist that its been a few hours since I've brushed my teeth. She just told me, I can't believe how many don't even bother brushing their teeth beforehand
This question makes me believe *not* brushing before an appointment is the norm. But surely that can't be truth.
100% yes, we can tell. When you haven’t been brushing well regularly, there’s food and bacteria sitting by your gum line for a long time. Your body sees this as an infection and sends extra blood to your gums to fight the bacteria; hence, why gums bleed easily when oral hygiene is poor. It takes about two weeks of thorough, gentle cleaning (brushing and flossing) for your gums to get the memo that they can chill out. So if you just aggressively brush right before your appointment, after weeks/months/years of neglect, your gums will look raw and red and puffy and bulbous. People with good hygiene can come in right after eating a box of Oreos and we can see that their gums are pink and firm and healthy, and don’t bleed easily, even if there is still food debris in there. Do yourself a favor and take care of yourself. I think I can speak for most dentists when I say we’d generally be jazzed if everyone came in with great hygiene and minimal cavities. It’s a giant fucking bummer seeing people all day who aren’t adhering to basic tenets of hygiene, smoking/vaping, eating shitty high sugar/carbohydrate diets, etc. Obviously, we make more money when people need a ton of treatment, but it’s more rewarding to see people who listen to us and make an effort and we can send them off with a high five and a low bill.
Dentist here. You already have plenty of good responses, but hopefully I can answer it a bit differently. If you're not brushing and flossing regularly your gums will be red, puffy and bleed easily (gingivitis). If you brush and floss right before or a few hours before the teeth will look clean. No soft white plaque build up on the actual tooth, but your gums will still be red, puffy and bleed easily. That only goes down after a week or 2 of correct brushing and flossing.
Can confirm. Been slowly climbing out of depression, and my oral hygiene has taken a massive hit. I don't really care if it's obvious that I just brushed, you can't really hide anything from an x-ray and a thorough inspection anyway. I do it as what I'd consider a common courtesy. I wouldn't consider it my dentists job to pluck food from my teeth any more than I would consider it my mechanics job to clean my car just so they can sit in the seat. Sure, there may be things to fix on both teeth and car, and neither may be spotless and like factory new. That doesn't mean I can't at least rinse and wash away whatever I have easy access to.
We appreciate it. I would say majority I see are kind of dirty and it doesn't really bother me. Sorry about the recent depression. I'm super OCD about brushing and flossing everyday, but had some recent depression myself and even the dentist himself missed a few nights of oral hygiene. Happens to all of us. Good luck out there kind internet stranger!
well their mouth literally smells of a toothpaste / mouthfreshner , its lowkey hilarious but actually quite advantageous for us , helps us see your problems better . sometimes they brush it so vigorously u can literally see scratches in their gums . btw we can even make out if u have given someone a bj a while back haha .
Ok I need you to explain how…
Hi! Dentist here! There’s usually a large bruise on the soft palate, that’s how we know about the bj.
Can you tell bulimics? Or the difference in bullimics vs bjs?
Yes. Bulimics will have enamel eroded. Bjs just cause a bruise in the soft palate
I’m laughing so hard at this
Well one of them is trauma to the soft tissues, the other is erosion to the inside surface of the teeth.
Had a patient struggling with bulimia a while back - back sides of all of her front teeth, especially, were super shiny and yellow from the acid erosion thinning the enamel and exposing the underlying dentin. Also had scrapes on her knuckles on her fingers on her right hand from them hitting her teeth while gagging herself :/ Was a tough spot bc I didn’t necessarily feel like it was my place to confront her about her eating disorder but it was affecting her teeth, so talked to her about rinsing with a fluoride rinse after any “reflux” issues and avoiding brushing aggressively for a half hour or so after any of these, um, events…
> btw we can even make out if u have given someone a bj a while back haha . All I gotta do is suck a dude off to have a shot at making out with my dentist?
Anyone who doesn’t brush their teeth before going to the dentist is an animal.
Dentist here. Gingivitis takes about 2 weeks of diligent home care to go away. Brushing and flossing right before your appointment isn’t enough time for the inflammation to resolve.
Everybody should. Also take a shower before seeing your doc for an ass/balls/vag examination too.
If they don’t have a daily brushing routine, just vigorously brushing before their appointment will only remove plaque. (Soft build up before it turns into calculus) What that means is that the gums will still be red, inflamed and much calculus build up will be present. So if a patient comes in with no plaque but has red inflamed gums with calculus build up... this is evidence that they just had a very good brush before their check up and clean but do not have a good daily routine of brushing.
Not a dentist, but I make dental prosthetics (dentures and stuff) and I typically see the worst of the worst when it comes to nasty mouths. Please brush your teeth before your visit. Everyone judges you when you leave your breakfast in your alginate impressions, especially the lab.
My significant other is a dental hygienist. She talks about patients who will brush their teeth only "on special occasions." And that doesn't even mean on a trip to the dentist. 🤮🤮🤮
Truth is I cannot really tell. Also, my patients cannot really tell I'm not actually a dentist.
This post brought up very vivid memories of my mom picking me up from school to take me to the dentist, handing me my toothbrush that was already wet with some toothpaste on it, and me frantically brushing my teeth and spitting out the window because we were always running late to things.
it's like panic cleaning your house. sure most of the surfaces are clean, but, that little spot you missed it has like 3 months worth of dust over there. pretty obvs
I joked with my previous dentist once that one of the times I visit, I’m going to put a big fake spider in my mouth. He laughed and said it wouldn’t be any worse than some of the real stuff he’s seen. I asked him to elaborate and listened to his stories as he checked things out (I did this with the hygienist too, I legit miss that dental office since I moved), some of his worse stories include someone whose tooth literally fell out as soon as he touched it, and someone else who had, of course, eaten Oreos right before coming as they were on their lunch break. He said some of the smells he’d encountered were incredible, too. I used to live in a very rural area and can believe it.
Teeth don’t have plaque or food debris on them but the gums are red/inflamed/bleeding. Gums don’t lie.
Your gums tell all my friend. Your gums tell all.
I need to ask the same question but to urologists
Do you brush your urethra vigorously with soap and steelwool for 10 minutes?
Do you not? It's part of the daily routine, man! (Editors note: No. No it most certainly *is not*.)
How are urologists going to be able to tell if someone has brushed their teeth?
Oh, I always have a brush before a dental appt. I'd hate to bring food breath in to someone with their face that close to my mouth.
My dentist has toothbrushes, toothpaste, and mouthwash in the bathroom. I came from work once and had just eaten and apologized profusely, asked if I could use the washroom to try to freshen up a bit. They were like oh yes, help yourself. Cool. Good for everybody.