Oral Irrigator - a practical assistant for dental care

Oral Irrigator - a practical assistant for dental care

Proper tooth cleaning is essential for good dental health. Especially for cleaning the interdental space, an oral irrigator can be another help. Is such a mouthwash replacing the wire? And what should be considered when using and cleaning oral irrigators? Here you will find tips on the function and handling of oral showers.

Why proper dental care is important

Often, dental care focuses on exposing teeth. However, interdental space cleaning is at least as important as these sites make up about 30 percent of the total tooth surface. Plaque can form there as well as on the surface of the teeth.

During the day, food particles accumulate between the teeth. Since it is often not possible to reach all parts of the tooth during normal brushing, bacteria in the interdental space can often multiply unnoticed. This can cause inflammation of the gums and caries.

Mouthpieces clean the interdental space

With regard to the thorough cleaning of interdental spaces, it makes no difference whether a person uses a normal or an electric toothbrush.

Therefore, flossing is useful in cleaning narrow interdental spaces. For slightly larger spaces, interdental brushes can be used.

In addition to tooth cleaning methods, oral irrigators can be used, which is especially useful in certain situations.

What is an oral regulator?

Mouth showers are used as an aid in daily oral hygiene to quickly and easily rid the teeth and interdental space of food debris and loose dental plaque using a water jet.

Oral irrigators do not replace the use of a toothbrush, but unlike dental floss, they can also occur in difficult areas, such as under bridges or implants.

What kind of irrigation is there?

There are different types of oral showers available:

An oral irrigator connected directly to the pipe with a hose does not require a water tank and thus has no problem with bacterial formation in the water tank - Unlike stationary models. These models are usually cheaper, but require the immediate proximity of a (proper) pipe.
An electric irrigation stationary is often a little larger, usually having a removable water tank, but due to the hose and proximity needed in an outlet in some cases does not allow great flexibility. For hygienic reasons, the water tank should be cleaned regularly.
In contrast, a mobile irrigator (travel shower) operates either with a battery or battery and battery and has an integrated water tank, so that they can be distributed with a cable and a hose. However, the water tank is smaller than in stationary models and must also be cleaned regularly.

Observe the differences in the water jet

There are also differences related to the water jet: there are mouthwashes and a single jet of water that, by means of packs, can purify particulate foods from the interdental spaces.

In addition, but also devices are offered with multi-beam adjustments, which have a massage effect on the gums and preventive act against gingivitis.

In many models, the water jet force is adjustable, there are also variants with pulsating or rotating beam.

Accessories and accessories

In addition, some mouthwashes allow you to mix certain antibiotic additives in the water and so properly present in the periodontal pockets.

In addition, accessories often have various head nozzles or are available separately, for example, for the responsible of fixed braces.

What brings an oral shower?

The regular use of an oral irrigator in addition to cleaning the tooth and toothbrush should offer the following advantages:

Eliminate food waste
Reduction of bad breath
Prophylaxis and possibly even relief from gingivitis
Rinse areas not accessible to people with implants or bridges
Clean the teeth and interdental space of people with fixed braces
Alternatives to flossing in old and restricted people
shorter duration of use than dental floss
general improvement of oral and dental hygiene

How do I use an oral regulator?

The handling of an oral irrigator is simple. If you are using an oral irrigator for the first time or have sensitive gums, you should take care first to put a low pressure on the water jet to avoid injury to the gums. If anyone already knows how to handle an oral irrigator, the water jet can be increased with healthy gums at a range of medium pressures.

When applied, the jet of water must be directed toward the crown of the tooth to remove dental plaque. Then you can drag the jet of water toward the gingival pockets, so that there is more storage to rinse out. High-quality oral showers can be chosen between a cleaning or massage mode.

The timer can be used to control the duration of the brushing process in order to avoid excessive gum.
How Often Should You Use An Oral Irrigator?
Oral irrigators should be used daily morning and evening before or better after brushing your teeth. But you can also use oral irrigators in between, for example, to remove disruptive food particles.

How do I clean my oral irrigation?

Observe the following tips for hygienic cleaning of your oral irrigation:

After each use, mouthwashes should be rinsed with hot water and dried with a cloth to avoid limescale.
A disinfection of the device is necessary at regular intervals, so no bacteria, viruses or other germs in the mouth or in the tire diffuse.
As a support, a simple mouthwash solution can be used to clean the microphone or handset. For stationary oral showers, it is recommended to complete the cleaning solution directly in the water tank. The cleaning agent can then be rinsed out of the hose again.
For models with a water tank, it should be cleaned regularly - preferably at high temperatures in the dishwasher.

What is better: oral or dental irrigation?

Both dental floss and one oral irrigator can be used to remove irritating food particles between the teeth. Dental care is often perceived as cumbersome and time consuming in the application. In "dental floss muffles" oral irrigation is therefore popular as a quick and comfortable alternative. The use of dental floss, however, in contrast to the use of an oral irrigator does not require cleaning.

Oral irrigator can also be an alternative to dental floss in the following cases:

At wide danger intervals, the mouth irrigator is better suited than dental floss.
Especially for those who wear a fixed brace and can barely reach the teeth with interdental space and toothbrushes and wires, therefore an oral irrigator is an important tool for cleaning the teeth.
Even with bridges or implants, the use of an oral irrigator is advisable, since it is precisely the difficult-to-reach distances between crowns and tooth replacements that can be reddened.
Sometimes in the area of ​​the nuts of the pharynx, deposits of food particles form so-called almond stones (tonsil stones), leading to strong aortic. Here, the oral irrigator can provide relief from the water jet through the oral irrigator aimed specifically at the pharynx and thus the walnut stones are floating out.
Even with people with gingivitis, the careful use of an oral irrigator can alleviate the symptoms and have a preventive effect.
Restricted or elderly people who find dental care more difficult to handle may use an oral irrigator to minimize the risk of dental disease.
Basically, you should use a combination of electric and sonic toothbrushes or ultrasonic, oral irrigation and dental floss for a healthy dentition to achieve the best possible cleaning results.

For whom is an unsuitable oral shower?

In cases of acute gingivitis, small lesions of the mouth or periodontitis, use of oral irrigation should be best avoided, otherwise it could lead to an aggravation.

If necessary, the irrigator can be used in these cases carefully and with little pressure, for example, gently massage the gums. For cleaning the interdental space the wires and the interdental brushes are then best suited.

People at higher risk for endocarditis (inflammation of the heart wall), such as people with heart defects or artificial heart valves, are generally discouraged from using oral irrigators. Because there is a particular risk that endocarditis is dragged through the oral irrigator into the mouth of the blood.

What is the best oral irrigator?

Meanwhile, a variety of different oral showers are available. In addition to well-known brands such as Braun® (Oral-B®), Panasonic® or Philips®, oral irrigators are also available from smaller-known brands such as Waterpik®.

Each oral irrigator has different properties. The type of device you choose as the user depends on what results you want to achieve and what type of irrigator is most appropriate for the application.

Due to the growing amount of time, you should first compare the actual test results before buying or even carrying out a test, for example, at the dentist.

Conclusion: Is a nozzle shower useful - yes or no?

Oral showers are useful when used correctly and can be used in addition to the toothbrush. Especially if you rarely use dental floss or use it is not possible, so you cannot clean the interdental spaces regularly, buying from an oral regulator is recommended.

Oral and dental hygiene can be significantly improved by the regular use of an oral regulator. However, under no circumstances should the irrigator of the mouth replace the toothbrush - and in the best case the toothbrush should not.