Patient Insights
The 'clean-ness' concept – what does it mean?
The mouth has an enormous impact on how people feel – affecting mood, sociability and self-confidence. As a highly sensitive part of the body, anything that physically affects it – toothache, ulcers, sore throats, sore gums, food debris – can be intolerable. Cleaning the mouth is, therefore, crucial to a person's physical and emotional well-being. So whilst people may brush without thinking, the actual effect of regular oral care is powerful.
When cleaning teeth, our research shows that patients look for the following outcomes:
- Removal of dirt and debris
- Freshening of the mouth and breath
- Protection of teeth and gums
- Whiter teeth
When to brush? What patients think.
Regular brushing in the morning and evening is still regarded as the 'back-bone' of routine oral care. Some people brush their teeth at other times as well (nearly 1 in 5 of the people we surveyed claimed to brush their teeth at least three times a day). What our research shows clearly is that different times of the day present different motivations for brushing. In the morning, it freshens the mouth, acts as a wake up call and gets rid of the staleness of the night-time. In the evening, brushing cleans the mouth of the grime accumulated during the day. This is what patients said: -
"You think of cleaning them at night but you're refreshing your mouth in the morning"
"It sort of wakes you up as well because if you feel drowsy then it's suddenly like a shock spearmint or fresh mint"
Our research has identified three different rationales that explain why and when people decide to clean their teeth.
- Routine: Regular cleaning at morning and night is believed to guard against decay, and act as a precaution, ensuring longer-term health and hygiene. However, people are often distracted and see it as an obligatory routine.
- Punctuation: This rationale is motivated by more specific irregular actions: for example, after eating, drinking or smoking or before going out.
- Preparation: Teeth cleaning is one of several aspects of personal care such as bathing, skin cleansing, deodorant use, clothes changing, applying make up etc.
Is there such a thing as making teeth too clean?
Many patients recognise that teeth can be 'over-clean'. 'Over-clean' teeth are seen as a negative, the product of abrasive and intrusive actions that can hurt teeth and cause discomfort to gums, often through over-zealous brushing or artificial, chemical whitening.
What about flossing and use of mouthwash?
Mouthwashes and floss may form part of a regular oral hygiene routine or be occasional additional cleaning options.
30% of people surveyed claimed to be regular users of mouthwash, with usage highest amongst 17–34 year olds. However, the frequency of purchase is low, suggesting that people tend to overestimate use of the product and will frequently have a bottle of mouthwash in the home for some time.
Nearly 1 in 4 people identified flossing as part of their regular oral care routine – using floss up to 4 times each week. However, actual usage data shows that the weekly use is lower – about 1 in 10 people. More people, however, tend to fall into the 'less regular' camp. Use is more likely in the evenings when cleaning is more salient than freshening and people have more time. Our research also shows that younger people are less interested in flossing than older people and that non-users either believe that there is no need for it or find it painful to use.
Dental professionals definitely influence floss usage as some patients say they will use it after a dental visit 'for about a week'. Otherwise it is used when they remember or when they can't brush something out from between the teeth.
