Dry Brushing

A recent Arizona study found that brushing with a dry brush reduced plaque by 67% and gingivitis by 50%. We found a write-up of the study in Yahoo Health and linked to it, but didn't bother to save the details. Oops! Yahoo removed the article and it seems to be nowhere else on the Web... So here's what we remember about how to do it:

The idea is to stay one step ahead of your mouth's efforts to secrete saliva, so...

Rinse your mouth first, and spit. Then, with a dry toothbrush, brush your teeth in the following order:

1. The inside of your lower teeth
2. The outside of your lower teeth
3. The outside of your upper teeth
4. The inside of your upper teeth

A nifty side effect of this method is that it leaves your teeth bathed in saliva, which is full of tooth-building minerals and antibodies (to bacteria).

How many times/day? We wish we could remember! But probably at least twice.