I first fell in love with Curaprox toothbrushes in the Autumn of 2011, the sun was shining, a gentle breeze was rustling the leaves and a Curaprox angel had given myself and everyone in my class samples of the most fabulous toothbrushes I've ever seen to give to our patients. We could all immediately see that these brushes were a big deal and it wasn't long before we were all hooked, students and patients alike.

Even after all that time this is a love affair that has never faltered and I'm still happily recommending these brushes to my patients on a daily basis. Admittedly, I am a big electric toothbrush fan, but they're not for everyone and when offering my patients an alternative there was only one brush I had in mind. Heart eye emoji.

First of all lets be superficial and just look at them.

BEAU-tiful. But, as its what's on the inside that really counts, lets take a closer look at these little babies and see what all this hype is about.

1)There's a bounty of bristles

There are thousands of them, literally. 5460 to be exact in this CS 5460 brush. They're really tightly packed together which creates a unique cleaning surface that reaches all those little nooks and crannies. Now I know what you're thinking, but you still have to use something in between your teeth - nothing is that good. Incidentally Curaprox has a few options for this that we'll discuss on another blog sometime.

Also with so many bristles, the pressure being exerted is more even - I like to think of this like someone lying on a bed of nails. Even pressure is surprisingly gentle if you're on a bed of nails (or so I hear), and more bristles are actually more gentle on your teeth and gums. So if you think you need a hard brush to get rid of more plaque then think again my friends.

2)They're not just soft

They're super soft. Now this can take some getting used to, the first couple of brushes will feel very different which can initially, in my experience, put a few patients off but lets think about this rationally.

Plaque is very small and soft, you don't actually need to exert that much pressure to completely clear a surface of plaque so a soft brush is just right for this job. You can see the plaque over there on the right, that sticky looking bit between the gum and the tooth.

Plaque is the main cause of cavities, Gingivitis and ultimately Gum Disease, so gold star worthy plaque removal is key for a healthy mouth.

Sometimes, even after you have removed all the plaque from the tooth's surface through successful gentle tooth brushing, what you can be left with is some staining and or some tartar.

Dental stain can build up on a tooth's surface over time, the usual culprits are tea, coffee, red wine, spicy food - basically all the good things in life. Tobacco and vaping will also cause dental stain. Also excessive use of Corsodyl Treatment mouthwash (the one in the brown bottle) or any Chlorhexidine Gluconate based mouthwash, yes even Corsodyl Daily can cause staining. This happens because they magnify the stain causing components in the usual culprits as listed above. Curaprox have a mouthwash called Curasept which is proven not to stain but again we'll maybe discuss this in another blog, I’ve heard on the grapevine this product may be getting a relaunch.

Anything that is not soft plaque i.e. tartar and dental staining is just NOT going to come off with a toothbrush, electric, hard, medium, soft or otherwise. In that case you need to see your Dental Hygienist, so come on down like this lovely lady did.

These teeth have been over brushed big time.

OVER BRUSHING to try and get your teeth super clean and remove stain and tartar nine times out of ten will lead to recession which causes a world of dental problems. I see this kind of thing on a daily basis.

These problems would usually be, sensitivity (and this can be extreme), making the teeth look longer as we can see to the right which aesthetically doesn't look as good, and an increase in the incidence of dental cavities at the gum line.

Also there can be up to twice as much or more of the tooth to clean which is a pain. Using a soft toothbrush helps prevent over brushing, so soft toothbrushes like the Curaprox 5460 sound like a plan to me.

If, even after all that, you still prefer a slightly firmer brush there are still some options for you. The fewer bristles present on the toothbrush head the firmer the toothbrush is. This is handily written for you on the handle. How thoughtful.

With that in mind, there are a couple of firmer brushes available the CS 3960 - not just as soft and the CS 1560 - a bit firmer again. These brushes are still SOFTER, but maybe just not just as soft as the CS 5460 that we are predominantly talking about in this blog which should help you to get in the soft brush mind-set.

3)They're not just any bristles

These are actually filaments. These filaments are SUPER fine and rounded at the ends, this means they are extremely gentle. These are made of a polyester based product called Curen and its so good its patented. But what's so good about Curen? Well..

It keeps its shape even when wet as it absorbs less water
You can make it super fine to fit more bristles on each brush head
The filaments mould to your teeth cleaning them effectively without causing damage
This means that filaments can keep in constant contact with the tooth during brushing and even clean below the gum line

4)They're Curvy

Size matters and the smaller curved shaped head helps get to those harder to reach areas, those molars don't stand a chance. To help things along in this department also you can close down slightly to relax the muscles in your cheeks to improve the access too.

As a little side note, they're also available in a SMART size which is great for kids, but also great if you find it tough to open wide. Pretty smart indeed.

5)They help you work on those angles

These toothbrush handles are a wee bit special, they're octagonal.

But what's the big deal with a handle I hear you ask? As soon as you grip the brush you are automatically at 45 degrees, which is the perfect angle for cleaning effectively at the gum line, and if that's something less to think about at 6am or 11pm you're on to a winner!

6)They can help if you've got braces

These brushes are groovy. Literally. They have a section of deliberately shorter bristles in the middle of the brush designed to fit snugly around fixed orthodontic brackets which is just so clever.

Braces are amazing but they are magnets for plaque. One of the main areas where plaque control is a problem for my patients who have braces is right at the gum line. Part of the reason for this is that the brackets are preventing the bristles contacting the part of the tooth that is closest to the gum line causing a build-up of plaque in this area. This can cause the gum to bleed, become inflamed and sore - doesn't look great, is going to be potentially tender to clean around and your Orthodontist won't be pleased. This brush helps improve plaque control as it fits around the brackets rather than over the top of them keeping you and your Orthodontist happy. Yay.

7)They can be useful if some specific areas of your mouth need some TLC

For this job we are talking about the Curaprox surgical brush and with 12000, yes 12000, ultra fine Curen filaments its got the most bristles on the block.

For this reason it is EXTREMELY gentle and ideal for cleaning areas where you have just had a tooth extraction, any areas of inflammation or if your gums are particularly inflamed and sore. Basically its the brush you reach for when everything else just seems a bit unfriendly. Use until you don't need to anymore and personally when you're finished I would throw it away and if you ever need one again just go for a new one.

8)There's even one for kids

The Curakid CK 4260 brush his a super slim head and is covered in rubber to help prevent injuries if your little ones decide to have a go on their own (however I always recommend supervised tooth brushing until kids can manage to tie their shoelaces themselves). They've got a little sucker on the end so they stay upright in the bathroom and are easy to grab, they're also cute as hell and come in a couple of different pastel shades.

So there you have it, the entire collection. If you feel an electric brush isn't for you or you are concerned about over brushing or if you are just seduced by their beauty then these are the manual brushes for you.
At this point I feel I should mention that this is not a sponsored post, I just really love these brushes and pretty much everyday see excellent results from my patients who use them.

I'm delighted to be able to offer Curaprox toothbrushes to purchase at both Moira Cosmetic Dental and Bupa Dental Care Glengormley but you can also get these online at amazon.co.uk, boots.com and the curaprox.co.uk website.

If you would like a Dental Hygiene appointment, you can visit me at Moira Cosmetic Dental or Bupa Dental Care Glengormley or you can follow me on Instagram @homegirlhygienist and send me a DM.

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