Brushing and flossing are very important for gum health. Today's modern diet includes a lot of sugary sticky processed foods. We do not have as rough or as fibrous a diet as we used to do.

It should be our aim to brush carefully at least night and morning and to floss at least every day. Unfortunately, many people do not brush very well, maybe once per day and floss infrequently or never. Without motivation, they should not very well, maybe only once a day and floss infrequently or never. Without motivation, they should not expect to keep their teeth for ever.

Increasingly we are impressed by the assistance a good electric toothbrush can give to keeping a clean mouth. There are some very good brushes on the market and they do a great job. We particularly recommend the Braun Sonic brush and the Phillips Sonicare.

Manual brushing still has its place as an adjunct to using an electric brush. Where teeth are not in good alignment you sometimes have to be a bit fiddly with the brushing to get in at the gum margin. Where there is bone loss and recession of the gum with loss of contour then often there are gaps between the teeth. We recommend TePe brushes which look like a minature bottle brush - bit like a little Christmas tree.

Flossing is still required, especially where the space is to small for a TePe brush to go through. Flossing removes the plaque between the teeth, at and below the gum margin. If the floss shreds then you require some attention from the dentist to correct the problem causing it to shred - it shouldn't.

We can get hung up on methods of brushing. More important is to realise what it is we are trying to achieve. We are trying to clean the teeth and particularly the gum margin including between the teeth.