[Joe Forster/STA]

On a side note, it is not important to brush your teeth but to clean them. Chew (sugarless!) chewing gum after every meal and whenever you can (traveling, surfing on the Web etc.) - this will clean the top of the teeth and give you genuinely good breath - to avoid cavities and use dental floss before brushing - this will clean between the teeth - and then you won't have to brush them for minutes. Try to not brush with force as that will cause the gum to withdraw from the teeth. There are also brushes that help with cleaning your tongue - that's where the majority of bacteria is - but I think that's a bit overkill. Also go to the dentist for tooth whitening every few years but only mechanical whitening (scraping off the plaque between the teeth and limescale and other coloring from the front), no chemicals! [...] And replace your tooth brush every 3 months as it gets full of bacteria and loses its brushing effectiveness during that time.