oralhealth – Curie.health

Importance of physiotherapy post-delivery

During and post the birth of a child, a woman goes through a lot of changes both physically as well as emotionally. To help keep the physical health in check, it is important to be aware of the following:

To help alleviate issues in the future and to reverse some of the pregnancy related changes, dietary changes and exercises should be incorporated into every woman’s routine after the birth of the child.

Lower abdomen and Pelvic floor strengthening exercises :

Focus should be given to this during and post pregnancy.
This involves basic exercises such as squats or kegel exercises that needs to be done to strengthen the pelvic floor muscles.
These exercises can be initiated 2-5 days post delivery of a child. A doctor’s or physiotherapist’s recommendation should be followed before commencing.
In case of any pain or discomfort, exercises should be discontinued and expert opinion should be sought after.
These exercises help in controlling and strengthening your bladder and improves bowel control.
Basic exercises involves squeezing and relaxing of pelvic and abdominal muscles and continuing this for a short period.
Pelvic tilts and abdominal bracing can help in toning and strengthening these muscles.

Back muscles strengthening:

New mothers are prone to backache and injury and these exercises help prevent them.
Maintaining good posture, avoiding heavy object lifting, using chairs with good back support and avoiding prolonged bending or stretching can help avoid these issues.

Good eating habits:

Incorporating fibre rich foods into your meals.
Drinking adequate water everyday.

To get a better insight into good habits and proper exercises, it would be best to connect with a physiotherapist.

You can now find and teleconsult a physiotherapist on the Curie connect app!

Contact: https://curie.health , +91-8778826667 for more info.

Effects of the pandemic on the mental health of children and adolescents.

The extended lockdowns and stay at home restrictions put in place to curb the widespread dissemination of the corona virus has tested our mental health thresholds to the maximum.

Children and adolescents are facing a major brunt of these stresses due to the disruption of regular, quotidian activities involving school visits, extra curricular activities and limited interaction with peers coupled with online classes, prolonged periods indoors and limited social and emotional stimulation. So, how exactly does this affect them ??

Psychological stress symptoms such as low mood, irritability, anxiety or depression.
Lack of vigour to partake in daily activities or conversations.
Lack of social controls such as teachers, peers or other outside influences on a child’s psychosocial equilibrium.
Added pressures and lack of motivation due to sudden and unprecedented changes such as introduction of online classes and cessation of play time, outdoor activities.
Risk of untoward or inappropriate usage of online resources. Global estimates show a 30% increase in exploitation of children for pornography and exploration of such sites by younger children who have free, unrestricted or unsupervised access to the internet.
Increased risk of self harm or suicidal thoughts or tendencies. Global estimates show an average of 35% increase in suicide rates or self harm across all age groups.
Increased risk of child physical or mental abuse. This mainly pertains to those children who have abusive parents, witness domestic violence, live with a caretaker or come from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

So how can a parent support and help a child navigate through this challenging phase?

Talk to your children openly about the pandemic in a way they can easily process it.
Explain the advantages derived from this time. This can include points such as increased time with family, opportunity to unwind and relax from mundane routines, time to learn new activities or discover new passions, etc.
Spend quality time talking, interacting and engaging with your children.
Find activities such as exercising or family games that you can all partake in.
Create a conducive environment at home for a peaceful and happy mental status of your children.
Avoid excessive nagging or discouragement of your children.
Give your children a chance to open up their feelings or emotions to you.
Create an opportunity for your child to understand and get a positive approach towards usage of technology in the betterment of education and communication with friends and family.
Encourage your child to utilise this opportunity to focus on self-development and stay away from negative influences such as bullies at school.
Instil in your child the need to focus on spirituality and self-love.
Prevent your own stresses at work or involving finances to overshadow your child’s need for happiness.
If you have a child at high risk (with previous mental health concerns or physical disabilities), stay in touch with a psychologist and paediatrician through teleconsultation services like Curie Health.
Identify vulnerable behaviour and address it immediately.
Help children or families around you that may be struggling to cope. This will also help mould your children to be magnanimous and humanitarian on the long run.

This challenging time could turn out to be the best time for your child’s emotional growth and maturation if he/she receives the optimum level of support and understanding from parents. Therefore, it emerges as a solemn responsibility of each parent to render an unwavering commitment and support to children, in order to induce a favourable outcome at these testing times.

To teleconsult a paediatrician or psychologist, download the free Curie care app from your google playstore.

If you are a mental health practitioner or a pediatrician, sign up with the free Curie connect app to offer your services online!

For more details, visit https://curie.health or +91-8778826667.

Effects of the pandemic on the healthcare system and how Curie can cushion the impact..

The corona virus pandemic has engulfed most part of this year- 2020! As the effects of this global catastrophe on all domains become more and more evident with time, it is rather wise to be a step ahead and preempt the various ill effects it may have on our business and take effective precautions to dampen these.

So how has this pandemic affected healthcare and our clinical practices??

A study by Commonwealth fund estimates an average of 50% decline in the outpatient visits currently as compared to the pre-pandemic statistics.
A Hearing review study shows that almost 66% of hospitals and healthcare professionals owning private practices have applied for a loan or have sought alternative funding sources during this pandemic.
A KFF analysis shows that there has been a demand reduction of over 60% in Dentistry, 45% for general physicians, 40% in hospitals, 39% in home healthcare and nursing services, 32% in medical laboratory services and 5% in pharmacies!

doctor dentist clinics — Current demand for various healthcare specialisations if average demand pre-pandemic is kept as 100% (for easy reference) for each of these specialisations.

The crux of the above statistics is that ‘Healthcare professionals and services that are not directly related to the management of the pandemic are in a dull phase, witnessing losses worth billions.’

So how can Curie help your clinical practice during these unprecedented times??

Curie helps you to increase your clientele through personalised business consultations, marketing and business development strategies.
Retaining your existing patients and improving business generated by their referrals through proven methodologies.
Identify areas of revenue leakage and help to stem these.
Teleconsultation services to ensure more patients can assess your services and existing ones stay connected.
Business intelligence, analytics and improvement by trained professionals.
Seamless touch and voice based practice management software that is far different than that of the competitors.
Innovative ideas to connect with old and new patients and improve their trust on your practice.
Strongly connected network with key service providers, peers and clients.

Over 400 healthcare professionals have benefitted by Curie!

To know more about Curie, download the FREE Curie app from your android playstore : https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ellora.systems.curie.doctor

Visit https://curie.health or call +91-8778826667 to know more!

Online Doctor Consultation

Best dentist near you

Telemedicine benefits and services

How telemedicine benefits healthcare

Negligible returns from your clinic’s marketing strategies? Ask Curie..

Most clinic owners spend hefty sums of money to pay third parties to carry out various marketing strategies to improve their business. However, many a times, the amount spent on these and the returns they produce fail to add up. So where exactly is the problem?

Majority of these third party companies do not focus on the need to individualise or personalise any strategy executed. They rather juxtapose a common strategy that worked for xyz client on all the clients and these evidently do not always yield positive results.

How exactly can one tackle this issue? Contrary to the popular belief that ‘One strategy fits all’, a different approach should be charted out based on the market research and data analytics of each clinical practice. This is definitely more time-consuming and involves higher monetary resources. However, the resulting success or returns are well worth the initial efforts that are put in.

Curie helps to increase your marketing strategy returns by:

• Offline and online marketing strategies that are tailor made for each clinical practice

• Complete data analysis to determine the most successful areas of business development

• Listing of clinical practices on Curie’s online map

• SEO optimisation and enhanced visibility on online sources

• Devising approaches to improve patient retention

• Focusing on increasing new patient walk ins and referrals

• Complete digitalisation of the clinic and clinical processes, setting the clinic apart from its competitors

• Periodic evaluation of the existing strategies and reforming them according to current market needs

• Building a rapport with old and new clients by SMSs or push notifications

Doctors and health professionals with Curie have seen the following outcomes

• More time to focus on clinical aspects as Curie takes care of operations and marketing

• Improved patient satisfaction and retention

• Increased trust levels among patients/clients and more referrals

• Significant improvement in revenue and patient statistics.

These are some services that make Curie unique and our highly efficient team works around the clock to help you propel your business to the next level.

To know more about how to improve your marketing returns and sign up with us, contact us at https://curie.health/ or call +91-8778826667.

Why and how should you register your clinical practice with Curie..?

Many healthcare professionals are curious about how Curie could impact your practice. Why don’t you sign up with us and see for yourself? We have a free trial period and you’ll be able to witness the vast specs of Curie and some of the advantages you could have if you subscribe to it on the long run.

So how exactly do you register your practice with us? We believe in a user friendly software that can be easily understood and used by anyone from anywhere. Therefore, registering with us to begin your journey with Curie is also a very simple process.

1. Log on to https://curie.health and register your clinic details.

2. Download the Curie Connect app from your google playstore.

3. Once your clinic details are provided, Curie provides you with a code that is unique for your clinic.

4. Share this code with your patients and social circle and allow them to connect with you on the Curie app.

5. Begin teleconsultations on the app, allow patients to find you and book appointments and easily view a patient’s medical records.

The Curie software also helps you to:

• Manage your clinical operations and view your practice related records from anywhere, including the comforts of your home.

• Store all patient details and records on a secure cloud based platform.

• Schedule physical or tele consultations with your patients.

• Allow existing and new patients to book appointments with you on the app.

• Allows text conversations with your patients and audio/video appointments.

• Maintain communication with all your patients by scheduling pop-up notifications and alerts regarding upcoming appointments, health insights and advices, offers and promotions, etc.

• Maintain inventory of your supplies and contact distributors easily.

• Business analytics and inputs to improve your business.

• Digitalised consent forms and feedback.

• Improved visibility of your practice on online sources.

• Offline and online marketing services and strategies.

• Constant customer support for any doubts or queries.

Overall, Curie aims to help all healthcare professionals have better and smoother clinical operations and provide a platform for wider patient reach.

RE-STARTING YOUR DENTAL PRACTICE AFTER COVID19

Dentists have been identified as being at a HIGH-RISK of Covid19 exposure and infection. They have been advised to NOT open practice around the globe. However, with lockdowns being eased and attempts to regain economic footing and livelihood being made, dentists have been given the choice to carry our emergency dental procedures and re-start practice in due course when the restrictions have been lifted.

Owing to this, the various national and regional Dental associations and organizations have come up with the best and safest practices to be followed by all dentists during clinical practice for an indefinite period:

· Information to be passed on to all patients :

Ø Intimate your patients that the clinic is open for EMERGENCY PROCEDURES.

Ø Elective procedures to be rescheduled to when normal clinical operations resume

Ø Complete medical and travel history of the patients to be obtained

Ø No patients will be seen without a prior appointment

Ø Consent forms to be signed regarding procedure details and precautions are taken

Ø No attenders to accompany patients inside the clinic unless in special cases. Video/audio conferencing or call can be allowed if needed.

Ø Patients to undergo a routine medical check-up, on arrival to the clinic.

Ø Masks should be worn by patients and should be only removed during the procedure

Ø Procedure charges would be higher than usual due to extra costs incurred for safety and infection control

Ø Payments will be digital

· Precautions at the clinic entrance:

Washbasins with soap and running water to be set up near the entrance

Ø Patients should be intercepted at the entrance by the clinic assistant and directed to the washbasin

Ø Patient drape, 3 layer face mask, shoe covers to be adorned before entering the clinic

Ø Hand sanitizer should be used before/after the procedure, entering/exiting the clinic.

Ø Non-touch thermometer should be used to record the patient’s temperature and other symptoms should be recorded. Any patient showing covid19 symptoms to be referred to a fever clinic.

Precautions in the waiting room:

Covid19 related info to be displayed in several strategic areas in the waiting halls for patient education

Ø Record details of every patient visiting the clinic

Ø Seats in the waiting room should be spaced and not more than one appointment should be given at one slot to prevent crowding in the clinic

Ø Consent forms and self-declaration forms to be signed before the procedure

Ø All surface areas should be thoroughly disinfected before and after every procedure

Ø Staff to be trained on how to maintain minimum contact with the patient and wear PPE (gloves, mask, head cap, shoe covers) at all times

Ø Avoid using AC at all spaces

· Procedural precautions:

Ø Not more than one assistant to help with the procedure, 4 handed technique can be used.

Ø All clinical personnel including doctor and assistant should be draped in adequate, appropriate PPE- HAZMAT SUIT(for all aerosol procedures), surgical gown, surgical apron, head cap, face mask (FFP3[FOR TREATING COVID19 PATIENTS], N95), eye goggles, shoe covers, gloves, rubber dam, head cap.

Ø Appropriate rooms for changing in and out of PPEs

Ø Proper biomedical waste disposal areas

Ø Patients to gargle with 1.5% hydrogen peroxide or 0.2% povidone-iodine before the procedure

Ø Use of 3-way syringes to be avoided

Ø Dental chair, contact surfaces, handles, and other equipment to be wrapped with barrier fil and changed after every patient

Ø Air purifiers with HEPA filters to be used

Ø High volume suction to be used for all aerosol procedures

Ø Disinfection of all surfaces before and after each procedure

Ø Disinfection of impressions using soap solution for at least 10mins

Ø Diligent sterilization of all instruments following each procedure

Ø High-speed suction to be used

Ø Extraoral radiographs to be preferred

· Post-procedural precautions:

Ø Fresh masks to be given to all patients when they leave

Ø Wet mopping of floors using 1% hypochlorite solution

Ø 5% Lysol disinfection of procedure rooms

Ø Biomedical waste disposal strictly following protocols

Ø Hypochlorite solution or bleaching powder to be sprayed on all wastes

Ø Fumigation of the clinic should be done at regular intervals

The Tamil Nadu Health and Family Welfare has also suggested excluding all employees who are >65 years of age, have immuno-compromised conditions, have co-morbidities, or are pregnant.

They have also advised the following precautionary prescription:

Ø Vitamin C 100mg oral for 10days

Ø Zinc 20mg for 10days

Ø Siddha suggested- Nilavembu Kudineer

This is a very challenging time for all of us and it will take the entire world a few months to get back on its feet. However, always remember that the first and foremost focus is the health and wellbeing of our family and the people around us.

Re-opening of your clinic might be difficult and tedious. Especially with all these new precautions and rules. To make everything in your clinic digitalized and reduce contact to zero, you need a partner like Curie to help you out. Right from logging in patients, storing their personal and medical records, storing procedural notes, giving prescriptions and post-procedure instructions, communicating with patients, service-providers, labs, etc and payment, Curie takes care of everything for you with the latest technology.

Contact Curie by logging on to https://curie.health or call +91-87788 26667

For a free demo or trial.

Diabetes and Oral Health

This sudden, unexpected period of lockdown has forced all of us to forget our usual routines and adapt a newer schedule at home. This might be having a negative impact on some of us, especially if we usually have a fast-moving life.

It is therefore mandatory to come up with a ‘Lock-down Schedule’ consisting of an amalgamation of serious and fun activities to alleviate any physical, mental or social stresses that we may face. You can read more about this on our previous blog https://curiedothealth.wordpress.com/2020/03/25/what-we-can-do-during-quarantine/

This is also a time when many of us are tempted to indulge in unhealthy eating habits. Although all of us need to practice a certain amount of caution when it comes to the inclusion of sugars, processed foods, and other unhealthy substituents to our daily ‘Lockdown meals’, those with pre-existing conditions such as diabetes should be even more careful.

Diabetes in addition to causing a myriad of health issues also affects the health of the oral cavity significantly. Here are some of the issues it causes when coupled with poor oral hygiene:

· Gum inflammation- gingivitis: Diabetes reduces the body’s ability to fight against bacteria. Due to this, a lack of good brushing that usually leads to plaque and gingivitis are seen more profoundly. Gums tend to get swollen, ‘Spongy’, red, easily irritated, and bleeds easily.

· Gum disease-periodontitis- A reduced ability to fight infections and an enhanced risk of delayed healing leads to gingivitis progressing into full-blown periodontitis. This is characterized by loosening of teeth, foul oral smell (halitosis), receding of gums, and increased foci of infection.

It is important to note that periodontitis and diabetes are interlinked. Long-standing periodontitis can lead to poor control of blood sugars in the blood and vice-versa.

dental oral hygiene — Picture Courtesy: (U.S. Air Force)

· Tooth decays: Gingivitis, periodontitis can further lead to poor oral hygiene and plaque build-up. The acidic nature of plaque results in the formation of cavities in the tooth and weakening of the enamel surfaces.

· Candidiasis infection (Thrush): Poor control of blood sugars commonly leads to ‘Coating of Tongue’ or other mucous membranes within the mouth called ‘Candidiasis’. This leads to oral malodor and further loss of oral and general health.

· Dry mouth: Diabetes leads to a reduction in quantity and quality of saliva and this in turn leads to further worsening of the above-listed issues such as dental cavities and candidiasis.

Symptoms that should prompt a dental visit:

· Sudden increase in cavities

· Differences in taste perception

· Bad breath

· Coated tongue that is difficult to clean at home

· Dry mouth (Xerostomia)

· Burning sensation in the mouth

· Loosening of teeth

· Increased spaces between teeth that have occurred suddenly

· Bleeding from the gums

Managing diabetes-induced oral health issues:

Practice good oral hygiene

· Avoid habits such as tobacco use or excessive alcohol intake

· Keep your diabetes in check and regularly visit your doctor

· Visit your dentist regularly and schedule an appointment on the onset of any new oral symptoms.

· Follow an active lifestyle

· Control sugar intake and follow a diet recommended by your doctor.

To know more or to book an appointment with your dentist, visit https://curie.health/

TACKLE BAD BREATH IMMEDIATELY!

Bad breath or oral malodor is the term given to any unpleasant smell or odor emanating from the mouth. This can cause a lot of embarrassment to those who suffer from it. There are a variety of oral and systemic causes for bad breath. However, oral causes are found to be more common.

Oral/ Dental Causes:

Poor oral hygiene: Brushing twice a day and flossing regularly reduce the build-up of ‘Plaque’, a bacterial film on the surface of the teeth. Build up of plaque eventually leads to gum disease (periodontitis). The presence of deep, food and plaque filled pockets between the teeth and gums in periodontitis can significantly compromise oral health and hygiene leading to oral malodor.

Ill-fitting dentures or crowns can lead to the accumulation of plaque and food particles.
Dental cavities: Cavities in the tooth surface act as a reservoir for decaying food and plaque. Sometimes, due to pain associated with a dental cavity, oral hygiene is compromised by poor brushing habits.
Erupting wisdom tooth: Inflammation of tissues around an erupting wisdom tooth (pericoronitis) can lead to food accumulation and poor hygiene practices due to the pain.
Coated Tongue: Failure to clean the tongue regularly leads to a build-up of food and plaque on the tongue surface, leading to bad breath.
Oral infections: Pus in the oral cavity due to an infected tooth or periodontitis can lead to a foul smell.

Habits: Certain habits such as mouth breathing can lead to a dry mouth due to reduced saliva. This leads to a bad mouth odor.
Long-standing oral ulcers that interfere with oral hygiene.
Smoking or tobacco chewing habits
Rarely, oral cancer can lead to a bad breath

Other causes:

Gastrointestinal problems such as reflux disorder and peptic ulcer (acidity)

Liver and Kidney disorders
Medications such as anti-histamines or anti-psychotics
Enlarged, infected tonsils: tonsillitis
Chronic sinusitis, postnasal drip
Excessive alcohol consumption
Dietary habits such as including a lot of onions or garlic

What to do?

Maintain oral hygiene
Regularly clean the tongue surface
Change any food, lifestyle habits that might be contributing to the problem
Use sugar-free mints after meals
Most Importantly, visit the dentist every 6 months to one year. Any oral causes can be identified and treated promptly by your dentist. In the case of a systemic cause suspicion, your dentist will refer you to the concerned doctor.

Visit https://curie.health/ to know more and to find a dentist near you!

WISDOM TOOTH TROUBLE? ACT WISE!

A human adult has 32 teeth in total. However, the final four ‘Wisdom Teeth’ or ‘Third molars’ are the last to erupt. They derive their name from the fact that they appear when a person is ‘Older’ or ‘Wiser’- around the ages of 17-25 years. Interestingly, research shows that up to 35% of the population globally do not have one or all of their four wisdom teeth.

Impacted Wisdom Teeth:

The wisdom teeth usually cause mild discomfort while erupting. Studies however show up to 24% of people globally have an ‘impacted’ tooth which means the tooth does not have enough space in the jaw to come out.

This problem has become more widespread due to the smaller jaw size in humans as compared to our ancestors. Commonly, the wisdom teeth of the lower jaw (mandible) are more affected by impaction than its upper jaw counterparts.

Symptoms of an impacted tooth:

Pain in the jaw, face, ear or neck corresponding to the side of the impacted tooth.
Swelling within the oral cavity and/or on the face corresponding to the side of the impacted tooth.
Swollen, bleeding gums
Altered taste sensation, bitter/ foul taste in the mouth
Painful or reduced jaw opening
Oral malodor – bad breath
Excessive salivation

Common issues arising from impacted wisdom teeth are:

More chances of decay and gum disease in the area of the wisdom tooth.
Pericoronitis: Inflammation of the gum tissues over the wisdom tooth, causing pain, difficulty in chewing and closing the mouth.

Problems to the adjacent healthy teeth: Impacted wisdom teeth might commonly damage the adjacent healthy teeth. Due to lack of space, these wisdom teeth can cause pressure on the adjacent teeth, sometimes fracturing a part of the healthy tooth, cause decay, gum infection or loosening of the tooth.
Overcrowding of the other teeth: Wisdom teeth may push the other already erupted teeth while erupting or trying to erupt. This causes a change in the alignment of the teeth, overcrowding of the front teeth, protrusion of the front teeth, change in aesthetic appearance of the teeth, etc.
Cyst formation: Rarely, an untreated wisdom tooth may lead to the development of a non-cancerous (benign) cyst. This may cause pain, discomfort or swelling and is treated by removal of the wisdom tooth along with the cyst (excision) and some amount of bone.

Localised infection or facial swelling: Pus collection within the tissues around the wisdom tooth can spread to adjacent healthy tissues of the jaw and/or face causing a ‘Space Infection’. In addition to facial swelling, pain, difficulty in mouth opening (trismus), altered taste sensation, etc., it might also cause systemic symptoms such as fever (pyrexia), lymph node enlargement (lymphadenopathy) and in severe cases, airway obstruction.

Treatment modalities for an impacted wisdom tooth:

Dentists usually advise the removal or extraction of the wisdom tooth if the diagnosis is confirmed with an X-Ray.
In the case of an infection, a course of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs are given before the extraction.
Extraction is commonly done under a local anesthetic (general anesthetic might be used in some selected cases).
Pain, swelling and discomfort following a wisdom tooth extraction usually resolve in less than 3-7 days.

From the above article, one can understand the importance of getting an impacted wisdom tooth treated by the dentist. These issues can be pre-diagnosed and treated immediately by visiting a dentist every 6 months.

Book your dental appointment at https://curie.health/ and log on to the website to know more.

Choosing a Toothbrush And Brushing Habits- An Insight

A toothbrush is one of the single most important everyday cleaning tools that help to improve your oral hygiene and health. Therefore, choosing the right toothbrush and following the correct method of brushing is important for one to get the best hygiene outcomes.

Following the invention of the toothbrush by the Chinese in 1498, using naturally available products such as animal hair and bamboo, we have come a long way in terms of advancement currently. The modern-day toothbrushes come in a variety of shapes, types, materials and bristle varieties and can also be battery powered. The best parameters to choose a toothbrush would be

Bristle Variety

Most dental professionals advise the use of ‘Soft’ or ‘Medium bristle varieties. This choice can be made based on the amount of pressure used while brushing. Brushes with a hard bristle variety or the use of excessive force while brushing can lead to avoidable, commonly irreversible damage to the outermost layer of the tooth- the enamel. This enamel layer protects the tooth and prevents tooth sensitivity. Loss of enamel can not only make the tooth sensitive, but it can also lead to yellowish discoloration of the tooth and easy wearing off (attrition) of the tooth.

Hard bristle varieties are usually only indicated by a dentist in patients having any neurological or cognitive dysfunctions, making it difficult for a person to brush effectively. Likewise, extra soft bristle varieties might be prescribed only in the event such as widespread tooth enamel loss or hypoplasia. Therefore, using a soft or medium bristle variety is suggested unless otherwise, a dentist prescribes a hard or extra soft variety.

Brush size and shape:

This usually depends on individual comfort, age, dexterity and ease of access. The brush should be effectively used to access and clean hard to reach areas such as behind the molars and a decision on size and shape should be made accordingly.

Manual or electric toothbrush:

For most healthy individuals with no challenging conditions, both the manual as well as the electric toothbrush will be equally effective to remove plaque from the teeth surface and maintain oral hygiene. However, in those with any underlying conditions which affect dexterity, hand function or movement, such as Parkinson’s disease, arthritis, stroke, etc. Or in very young or elderly persons, an electric toothbrush might be a better option.

When to change your toothbrush?

Research studies have suggested that a toothbrush needs to be changed every 3 months. Even if a toothbrush appears visibly in good condition after 3 months, it would be best to change it. Reasons that warrant a toothbrush to be changed prior to 3 months are:

Frayed/Damaged bristles- This usually means the person is applying too much pressure while brushing. The brush needs to be changed immediately, however, reducing the brushing pressure would be equally important.
Post sickness/flu- Toothbrush bristles tend to gather micro-organisms and can lead to harboring of these microbes for a long period of time. Therefore, following sickness or an episode of flu, it would be best to change the toothbrush to avoid any repeated infection.
If you find your toothbrush having traces of old tooth paste or dirt and you are unable to clean it, it would be the best time to get a new one.

Toothbrush care

Always keep the toothbrushes in a covered cabinet or holder. This is to prevent any contamination by water in the washbasin, shower or flush. It also prevents cross-contamination with other brushes kept near it
Keep the toothbrush in an upright position, this will help excess water to drain away easily.
Store the brush in a dry, clean, ventilated environment
Avoid storing a toothbrush in a zipped pouch or closed space. This would facilitate the multiplication of microorganisms on it
Always wash the toothbrush before and after use. Using warm water would be more advisable.
Storing a toothbrush in 70% alcohol solution occasionally is a good way to disinfect it
Keep multiple brushes away from each other, to avoid any contact between the bristles.

Tooth-brushing techniques

The most commonly advised brushing technique is the Bass or Modified bass technique. Key points include:

Place the brush bristles at a 45-degree angle, keeping the brush parallel to the tooth surface.
Use gentle, firm pressure and move the brush in a vibratory, circular motion along the tooth surfaces.
Continue to clean all the teeth in a span of 2 minutes, covering all surfaces including the surface towards the tongue and the chewing surfaces.
For the lower front (anterior) teeth, use the brush vertically, with a pushing stroke from the gum line to the outer edge.
Clean the tongue surface
Brush twice daily, for 2 mins each using a pea-sized quantity of toothpaste.